My Little B
by RavenAngel001
Summary: So this story takes place after Buffy is brought back to life after defeating Glory. The sleeping with Spike did happen but ended sooner rather than later. Tara is still alive so no Dark Willow. Faith is released from jail after a year.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters or the show itself,ECT.

A/N: This is my first fanfiction so please tell me what you think. So this story takes place after Buffy is brought back to life after defeating Glory. The sleeping with Spike did happen but ended sooner rather than later. Tara is still alive so no Dark Willow. Faith is released from jail after a year due to lack of evidence and stays with Angel for awhile. After three months of fighting side by side with Angel and his gang Faith decides she needs to return to Sunnydale and make amends to the people she wronged. But when she gets there something unexpected has happened to Buffy.

Chapte1

Buffy and Willow were walking through Restfield cemetery. It seemed like an unusually quiet night but Buffy wanted it, no needed it. But she knew something was off, her Slayer senses were telling her that something wasn`t right. As they strolled through the cemetery talking about Xander and Anya, Willow decided to bring up the subject that Buffy seemed to be avoiding like the plague."So..."she said nervously as if though Buffy would suddenly punch her lights out, "have you seen Spike recently?"Buffy sighed heavily. When she was brought back from beyond the grave, she felt empty and emotionless. She couldn`t feel anything and she was like a zombie most of the time everyday just going through daily routines with no feelings.

Then she started sleeping with Spike or more accurately they were going at it like wild animals, but she felt ,hate,and disgust. But when the scoobies found out about what she and Spike were doing, Buffy finally decided to tell them what was going on, and why she was sleeping with Spike. She told them that they didn`t bring her back from some hell dimension but instead they ripped her out of heaven. They all felt really guilty about it especially Willow but she forgave them because they really didn`t know. Willow was slightly traumatized from catching Buffy and Spike together in the act and after that incident Buffy stopped going to see Spike and they hadn`t spoken about it until now. Spike was now obsessed with her."No Wills, "replied Buffy after a minute of thinking, "and I better not see his face in the very near future or he`ll be meeting the pointy end of my stake. "said Buffy thrusting her stake out in a demonstration. Willow giggled slightly and Buffy laughed along with her. Spike seemed to have found a way to hurt Buffy even with the chip in his head and the others were worried especially Giles, who didn`t trust the bleach blonde vampire one bit.

"Yeah but don`t worry about any of that, he's only been stalking me and standing under my bedroom window trying to see me in the nude, "said Buffy shuddering internally."Oooh!"said Willow with excitement in her voice, "do you want me to put up a protection spell,huh? Because I could you know, I even know this one spell where even if a vampire is invited in he still can`t enter if he has evil intentions and-"Buffy cut her off saying, "Wills its okay, there's no need to bring out the big guns. It`s just creepy stalking types of things but if he tries anything he knows he`ll be a pile of dust."Willow slightly pouted but agreed with her. Buffy didn`t want her friend to use magic to help them because magic seemed to be her answer to all their problems now, plus it was putting a strain on her and Tara's` relationship. Tara didn`t approve of Willow using the Dark arts.

But Willow was still experimenting with the dark arts in secret and Tara was very worried about said she shouldn`t worry about her and that she could handle it but the others were all still worried about her."Well is it always this busy on patrol?"asked Willow sarcastically breaking the slightly awkward looked at her wide eyed and said,"Wills!You shouldn`t say things like that! Now something definitely is going to happen!!Why?!"asked Buffy looking towards the night sky. Willow looked panicked and started to babble, "Why didn`t you stop me from talking? You know how I am in long awkward silences!!I say the first thing that pops in my head, why doesn`t-"and before Willow could finish her sentence she was being pushed out of the way. A huge red scaly demon threw Buffy over a tombstone, and Buffy quickly got up into a fighting stance and ready to take on this demon that looked like it came straight out of hell."You can`t say things like that on a Hellmouth and not expect something to happen!"shouted Buffy as she quickly rolled out of the way of an incoming attack and then continued, "it's like asking for trouble!"

"You know I tend to babble! You could have stopped me!"shouted Willow from behind a tombstone. Buffy didn`t answer back because she was to busy trying to die...again. The demon was powerful and Buffy only had a stake with her. Giles would definitely be giving her a lecture about it tomorrow. Then all of a sudden the demon catches her off guard and knocks the air out of her and a bright white light comes from the demon and she could faintly hear Willow shouting, "Buffy look out!!"and then she fell unconscious. All of a sudden she wakes up and it felt like she was out for hours but she had only been passed out for a few seconds. She was on the ground and she could see Willow a few feet away and the demon was nowhere in sight.' Where the hell did the demon go?!`wondered Buffy still on the ground. She looked towards Willow for answers but Willow was just standing there with her eyes looking like it was going to pop out of her sockets and her mouth wide open.

Willow seen the looks Buffy was sending her and she quickly breaks out of her shock and says, "Buffy don`t you-err well feel, I don`t know, different, maybe shorter than usual...?"said Willow in a slightly panicked voice. Buffy rolled her eyes and stood up, "Please Willow this is no time to be making fun of my height..."she trailed off and suddenly froze. That voice couldn`t have come from her. It was high pitched and squeaky."Okay Buffy, now don`t freak ou-""Aaaah!!"Buffy screamed and her voiced echoed around the graveyard. Willow quickly ran towards her,"Sssh!!Buffy, your going to wake up the dead with that screaming, if you haven`t already, she muttered underneath her breath. Buffy quickly stepped forward and kick Willow in her shin and then again getting no reaction out of her friend. Willow on the other hand had difficulty keeping the amusement out of her eyes and her laughter under control. Buffy was the most, cutest and most adorable little four year old. Willow guessed she was around four years of age even though Buffy was still kind of short for a four year old, but maybe that's why she wasn`t tall as adult Buffy."Okay Buff enough with the kicking.

We can safely presume that you are no longer a slayer but a now normal yet very cute four year old."Buffy crossed her now tiny arms over her chest and glared at Willow."Gee you think?"she added sarcastically. Willow was freaked out by the way the four year old Buffy was glaring at her.' Four years olds can`t glare like that, can they?` wondered Willow still looking at Buffy. She had the whole sweet and innocent look going on and Willow was sure she got whatever she wanted when she was this little. Her hazel green eyes even more bright and innocent but it seemed that parts of the adult Buffy got left behind. And from the way Buffy was acting she wasn`t reverted to her four year old self but she was just trapped in her four year old self's` body.

"Okay, we have to get back home and tell Giles what happened, so let me carry you we`ll get there faster, "said Willow already preparing to pick Buffy up."No, I can walk myself, thank you, "said Buffy rolling her now four year old eyes. Everything she normally would have done now seemed hilarious even her rolling her eyes was just so cute. Willow wanted to pinch her little pink cheeks but she knew when Buffy was back to her normal self she would kick her butt."Look, it's getting late and it will only be this one time, okay?"asked Willow even though she knew if Buffy refused she`d still pick her up because she was as harmless as a fly and lighter than a cheap romance novel."Fine, "said Buffy uncrossing her arms and getting ready for Willow to lift her, "but only this once and we will never speak of this again, understood?"said Buffy. Willow just nodded with wide eyes.

It was too weird hearing Buffy talk to her like that in a four year old form. Willow quickly picked Buffy up and the clothes that now was on the ground and made their way home, praying that they wouldn`t run into any trouble on the way back. Buffy snuggled in Willow and Willow had to stop herself from awing because she was just being so adorable. Buffy on the other had was feeling very tired and she guessed it was because she was now a four year old and it was way past a four year olds bedtime.

Meanwhile

A black Harley speeds by the Welcome to Sunnydale California sign. Dark brunette curls fly this way and that. The figure clad in black leather pants, a white wife beater and leather jacket, entered the town of Sunnydale home of the Hellmouth after a year and a half of her knew she shouldn`t have returned and she should have just listened to Angel telling her it was too soon, but after fighting alongside Angel and the rest of the AI gang for three months she felt she needed to make amends with the people she wronged and all of them were here in Sunnydale. She had alot to make up for and she was going to prove to them she had changed. She wasn`t the same person she was before. Prison changed things for her, put things into perspective for her. A year was a long time for a Slayer to be locked up but she had to face all the things she did, the people she hurt and she was going to start that by coming back to where it all began. They may not want her there and Buffy will definately kick her butt all the way back to LA but she had to try because she would never forgive herself if she didn't. So the newly reformed rogue slayer road off into the night on her way to facing the people she had hurt the most in the past.' This was going to be interesting and maybe even very painful', thought Faith and smirked as she rode to her destination faster.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters or the show itself,ECT.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys, and I know my first chapter had some problems, such as some missing words, leading to some sentences not making sense. Hopefully there aren`t any mistakes in this one.

Chapter2

Faith checked into a motel room and got the same room she had the last time she was in Sunnydale. She decided to take a walk after checking in, and she was in deep thought, but she was still aware of what was going on around her. She had many things on her mind. Things like how the others were going to react when they heard that she was back in town.' They'll probably start screamin` and shoutin` around panicking and thinkin` I was there to kill `em all, and then they`ll send B after me to finish the job that she started on that rooftop. But I told Angel that I needed to do this.

I couldn`t stay in LA and find redemption when the people I hurt the most were in Sunnydale. I know Angel meant well but I couldn't wait any longer. I also knew Angel understood why I had to go but he was still worried for me of all people. He really was an okay guy. He never gave up on me and I`ll be eternally grateful to him for that. But if didn`t go back now I knew I`d regret it, and I had to try and get the Scoobies and Buffy to see just how much I had changed. I don't expect them to just forgive me cause I said I was sorry. I remember B tellin`me if I ever apologized ta her she`d beat me to death but I was going to show them no matter what, that I was not the same person I was before. Even if they start shoutin`at me and tellin` me ta` leave, that I don`t deserve their forgiveness or a second chance, I gotta `least try. I owe it to them and myself to make things right and to prove to `em that I`ve changed and that I`m not the same person I was when I first arrived in Sunnydale, the leather wearing and carefree Slayer who got off on slayin` and beatin` the shit outta random vamps for fun.' Many things about Faith had changed. Even when she went out slaying she didn`t fight like she use to, instead she used quick and calculating moves to finish them off.

No beating them until they were a bloody pulp and taking her anger out on them. She even kept the bantering to a minimum. She carried a beautiful Japanese sword on her back that Angel gave to her as a gift and every time Angel watched her slay with it he was taken by how gracefully she handle it. Her moves were beautifully executed but she still had that raw primal edge to it. He told her many times that he was proud of her and that he knew she had changed. But Faith believed that the darkness would always be there within her, just waiting for her to slip up, but she had to find ways to keep the darkness at bay.

It was difficult at times, when the others like Cordelia mostly would make a snide remark or comment about her past homicidal tendencies, then a little voice inside her head would whisper to her to kill. To just walk over there and snap their necks but she wouldn`t give in. She was stronger now and with Angels help and his belief in her she fought that darkness inside of herself. She had things to prove and people she had to make amends with but tonight wasn`t going to be it. She was going to be meeting with Giles and the others tomorrow at the Magic Box, and Angel had phoned ahead and told him Faith was arriving, and she was not looking forward to it. So hopefully no one would attack her when she entered.`Hopefully`she thought, slowly blending in with the shadows of the night.

Back at the Summers residence...

Willow just entered the Summers residence with a now awake Buffy who dosed off on the walk home. Willow although was weirded out by Buffy being turned into a four year old she couldn`t argue with the fact that Buffy was the most cutest little toddler she`d ever seen.' She was so tiny,' thought Willow to herself,' but in a very cute sort of way, not a dwarf, or premature midget way, huh-uh...`argued Willow with herself. Her ramblings even coming out into her thoughts. Everything seemed to be quiet in the Summers home but the lights in the living room were still on and she knew Giles was still here from his car in the driveway.

Taking a deep breath she looked at Buffy, "You ready for this Buff?"she asked somewhat nervously for her best friend, and also wondering what kind of reactions they would get. Willow knew there would definitely be lots and lots of glasses cleaning from Giles."Yep, ready as I`ll ever be..."muttered Buffy annoyed at her now high pitched and squeaky voice. Willow had to bite the insides of her cheeks to keep herself from breaking into a huge grin, because Buffy's voice made her just want to pinch her cheeks again. Then she realised that`s why her Aunt Gertrude use to like pinching her cheeks when she was the same age.' Poor Buffy `thought Willow to herself, she remembered hating it when others did that to her when she was that age. As they entered the living room Xander entered, coming back from the kitchen with doughnuts in hand and another stuffed in his mouth and barely looking at them. Giles was sitting on the one seater couch not even looking up from his notes.

Willow rolled her eyes at their typical behaviour. A demon could have walked through the door and they`d be oblivious to it until the very last second. She cleared her throat but only Xander looked up this time."Oh..."he said slightly pausing to take in the child in Willows arms and raised an eyebrow at her and asked,"hey, Wills, you're not a part time kidnapper are you? Cause if you are I don`t think we can be friends anymore. "he said joking around and grinning like an idiot. She rolled her eyes at him and said, "No I`m not a part time kidnapper, but Hello?!"she said picking up the tiny blonde in her arms and swinging her around like a ragdoll, and she really was as light as a ragdoll and exclaimed, "Doesn't she look familiar to you?!""Err...I don`t know, er...she`s blonde and well tiny, really tiny?"he said more as question then a statement both his eye brows raised up in question. Willow huffed and rolled her eyes for a third time but before she could speak a tiny and high pitched voice shouted out indigently, "Hello I`m still in the same room as you guys!!And Xander you idiot it`s me, Buffy!!"she shouted trying to get Willow to finally put her down which she did.

Willow looked slightly less shocked than before but Xanders eyes were literally popping out of his head and his mouth was hung wide open and she guessed that`s what she looked like when she first saw Buffy."Wills, why did the tiny little blonde child call herself Buffy?!"shouted Xander sounding almost like Anya. Buffy was getting impatient and Giles didn`t even seem to be acknowledging them bickering, because he was too engrossed with whatever book he was reading. She marched over to Giles and Willow and Xander watched her as she stuck out her hand out and hit Giles book out of his hands. Giles looked up and saw Willow and Xander looking at him with shock and wide eyes and then he lowered his eyes downwards and saw a tiny little blonde girl glaring, GLARING at him."Finally!!"she shouted, now not caring about her tiny little high pitched voice, "Giles it's me Buffy and I`m like this cause a demon decided it would be fun humiliating me and..."she trailed off becoming distracted by Giles who too was now wide eyed and in shock, and then he did some funny kind of sound in the back of his throat and Buffy was sure it sounded like he was choking on his tongue and then suddenly his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out.

Sighing heavily Buffy looked at Xander and Willow and said, "I thought Xander would be the one who would have fainted first. "And she turned to look back at Giles and Xander realizing what she said shouted,"Hey I resent that!"Willow shook her head and was about to say something when she was interrupted yet again."Oh, hey Willow,where`s Buffy?"asked Dawn ."Yeah..."answered Willow and was about to continue but Dawn interrupted her,"Um...Guys why is there a little blonde child in our house and poking Giles in the face...?"

Everyone looked at where Dawn was staring, and then the little blonde turned around and saw Dawn and said as casually as she could,"Oh,hey Dawnie, aren`t you suppose to be asleep, "she said as if it were a normal thing for her to be standing in their living room and as four year old."Buffy?!"Shouted Dawn. Buffy nodded and waited for the same reactions she got from the others, either wide eyes and mouth hanging wide open or she could just pull a Giles and faint. But no, not Dawn Summers Buffy's little sister and well not so little anymore. No she didn`t look at her in shock or faint, but she full out broke into hysterical laughter. She fell onto the ground laughing so hard that she was sure her lungs were going to hurt later and you could see the tears running down her face.

Everyone thought she was on some kind of laughing gas, the kind the Joker would use in Batman. She wouldn`t stop even after a whole ten minutes of laughing and rolling all over the floor. Finally she calmed down and Buffy was looking at her with a scowl on her face, that just didn`t look right on a four year old."Are we finish with being immature now, Dawn?!"She asked angry and annoyed."Buffy..."said Dawn starting up again with laughs turned in giggles, "please...stop talking...Your voice...its-it's just too funny...It's like you sucked on a tank of helium!"Buffy huffed and stomped her foot on the ground pouting furiously, looking like the epitome of a four year old and the others couldn`t take it anymore and laughed along with Dawn. Buffy was going to get them all ,when she's back to normal,oh they`ll all see...she thought darkly to herself."Okay everybody just shut up!!"Everybody became silent. Buffy could be one scary four year old and the glares she was sending to her two best friends and sister scared them slightly...well besides Dawn."Dawn aren`t you suppose to be asleep? You have school tomorrow. "said Buffy crossing her arms and trying to get some kind of control back.

Dawn smirks and approaches Buffy and bends down so they`re eye level and talks in a baby voice to annoy and anger Buffy even more,"Aww,how cute," she says pinching Buffy's cheeks and Willow looks on wide eyed, Slayer or not Buffy was not going to let Dawn get away with that, "But now seeing as I`m the older sister here and your..Well I can guess around four years old I think its waaayyy past your bedtime, little missy, you little scamp you. Do you need me to warm some hot milk up for you? "she asked innocently and taunted Buffy by speaking in a baby voice and pinched her now very pink cheeks from the anger and embarrassment .

But before Buffy could cry out in outrage she was interrupted by the groaning coming from the couch. Giles stirred and began to wake up. He rubbed his temples and looked at the group around the little blonde child from before, his eyes got wide once more and he felt the darkness calling him again in the land of unconsciousness but a tiny high pitched voice shouted, "Don't you dare faint again Giles!!Or I swear I`ll do something very bad to you while your unconscious, you got that!!"shouted Buffy trying to sound intimidating but failing horribly by the sounds of her friends muffled laughter."Bloody Hell?!"Exclaimed Giles jumping up from the sofa and peering down at Buffy like she was some kind of new demon species."Bloody hell!!"he exclaimed once more."Is that all you can say?!"asked Buffy becoming cranky and she felt herself wanting to give in and be a four year old and start crying and whining, not that she didn`t do that as adult Buffy but in moderation, she told herself."My god you're so tiny! You look to be around maybe three, four years old..."He started to clean his glasses, and muttered under his breath but everyone heard, "that must be why your quite short as an adult as well..."Giles!!"cried Buffy indigently and she was seriously think about using the waterworks to her advantage. They were all making fun off her and she was becoming restless."Okay, everybody lets just calm down and assess the situation. So can anyone tell me what happened?"said Giles going into watcher mode.

Buffy felt relieved and even comforted at Giles behaviour, she did not want to be stuck as a four year for long. So Willow told Giles what happen and they all agreed that they`d meet tomorrow at two at the Magic Box for research and Giles also mentioned that there was something else he needed to talk to them about. But for now they should all try and get some rest. Buffy got to her room by herself but had to borrow a t-shirt from Dawn although it still was too big and more jokes were made by her demon of a sister,she went to bed and then they all said good night. They`d have to get Buffy some clothes the next day according to Willow but Buffy didn`t want to think about that now. She just wanted to go to sleep and wake up the next morning hoping that this was all just some bad dream.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters or the show itself,ECT

A/N:Okay so my last TWO chapters seemed to be difficult for some people to read , so I hope this one is just right for you guys, and I hope you don't have any problems now with my formatting and line spacing and whatever. And now hopefully you can all just enjoy reading the story better.

Chapter3

Next Morning

Buffy awoke to the sun shining in her eyes. Groaning she tries to block it out, and then suddenly her bed feels bigger than it should be and everything feels far too big for her.

`Oh God yesterday wasn`t a bad dream! `she thought to herself groaning. Then suddenly her room door flies open and in rushes one Dawn.

"Oh thank God!!"shouted Dawn with relief written all over her face as she looked at the still very tiny four year old Buffy, "I almost thought yesterday was a dream and that the best day of my life was just my imagination. "she said dramatically.

Buffy rolled her eyes at Dawn and sighed, "Gee, can you be any less enthusiastic about it?"she asked sarcastically and in a grumpy mood all of a sudden.

Her sister was having the time of her life with this situation, her voice was still high pitched and now even slightly nasally,' Just Great` was all Buffy could think off at that moment.

She was one unhappy four year old this morning. Her sister really could be a brat at times and she was beginning to lose her patience very quickly with her.

She may not have any Slayer powers now but she still wasn`t below using tactics such as pulling Dawns hair or biting her, which she hoped she didn`t really need to resort to. Really.

"Dawn, what do you want?"asked Buffy glaring at Dawn who was now poking her in the stomach.

"Dawn!!Dammit, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"shouted Buffy indigently as Dawn started lifting her tiny little legs up making running movements with them. Like you would with a toddler.

"Geez, chill Buffy! I`m just checking out how miniature you really are, causes I didn`t get to see you properly yesterday..."she said now looking at Buffy's tiny little feet.

Buffy got her foot loose from Dawns grip and crawled away from under her. She was turning pink all over her face and ears.

If she could die from embarrassment at any moment, then at that moment she would`ve definitely been at the Pearly gates already.

"Get OUT!!OUT!!"shouted Buffy and it sounded more like a high pitched screeching and pointed her finger at Dawn."GET OUT!"

"God, you're so temperamental for a four year old!"huffed Dawned as she stomped angrily out of sisters` room, "you always spoil all my fun!!"she shouted at the doorway entrance.

"Whatever!"shouted Buffy back and then added, "and do you even know how to spell the word temperamental?!"she added snidely.

Dawn smirked slightly at Buffy and said,"Aw, Buffy it`s okay if you don`t know how to spell the BIG words, your only four years old now, although..."

Then Dawn does a thinking motion with her finger tapping her chin in fake thought.

"...that still doesn`t excuse you for still not being able to spell properly as adult Buffy. "and with that she started to laugh as she walked out of the room easily dodging a weakly thrown pillow to her head.

Buffy was standing on her bed with the baby blue t-shirt Dawn borrowed her still fuming."Aaarrgghh!!" she shouted out loud.

Just then another head popped into her doorway. Blonde hair and red hair following."Hey Buffy, "said Tara with a small smile on her face.

Buffy could see Willow slightly behind Tara, and she knew she must`ve told Tara when she arrived this morning.

Tara wasn`t staying with then anymore at the house but she said she would move back once Willow proved to her she that she would stop using magic to solve all their problems.

"Hey Tara, "said Buffy unemotionally and dejectedly. Sighing she plopped back down onto her bed and Willow and Tara now entered the room fully.

Tara sat besides Buffy and tried to console her."Don`t worry Buffy we`ll find a way to turn you back. You know we always do, "she said in a way that was so Tara, and that made Buffy feel a little bit better, and it made her want to hug Tara for it too.

"Thanks Tara, "said Buffy rolling her eyes at herself from hearing her oh so squeaky and now nasally sounding voice.

Willow covered a smile with her hand and used Taras back as a cover from Buffy seeing her trying not to laugh.

But Buffy did see it and glared at her, "What's so funny Wills?"she asked crossing her tiny arms over her now boobless chest.

"Err...N-Nothing, "stuttered Willow looking sheepish after Tara elbowed her in the side. Buffy didn`t believe her and still glared at her.

"Fine, "said Willow sighing,"i-its just that your just soooo,"said Willow dragging out the word so," cute and your voice has gotten all nasally now my hands just want to pinch your little chubby cheeks..."

Willow trailed off ending her babbling and turning a similar shade of red as Buffy was. She seemed to be shaking with anger.

The humiliation and embarrassment was slowly boiling her blood and one more comment would surely send her over the edge.

And just as she thought that, Xander stuck his head into her room and said,"Hey you guys, hey shorty,"he said jokingly smiling like the goofy idiot he was.

No Buffy didn`t try to hit him or bite him or pull anyone's hair, no she did something so unexpected, that they all just stood there wide eyed and panicked.

Her eyes first got very watery and then her lower lip began to tremble. Willow was the first to notice and quickly got up but not knowing what to do.

It was like they were all just frozen and waiting for her to let the floodgates open, and open the flood gates she did.

The water works flowed like a river and she cried like she hadn`t cried before. She finally gave into what her four year old self wanted to do in the first place.

Buffy didn`t even know why she was crying and that she could even cry this much, and where the hell?!Were all the tears coming from? But strangely the more she cried the better she felt.

The others were looking at Buffy wide frozen at the doorway gulping thinking it was his entire fault that Buffy was crying.

Willow started pacing around like a crazy person mumbling things to herself trying to figure out what she should to do.

Tara on the other hand just looked at Buffy and knew that this was what she needed .To cry and let out all her emotions.

She reached out and pulled Buffy into her lap and started rubbing her back soothingly.

Her loud cries turned into soft sniffles and hiccups. Xander and Willow both looked Tara like she did some kind of spell.

"What?"asked Tara confused at why they were both looking at her strangely."H-How did you do that?!"stuttered Xander,"it was like she was possessed or something. "he said wide eyed.

Tara rolled her eyes at Xander and replied, "She's just overwhelmed Xander and with everyone making jokes at her expense, it can cause her to become emotional. "she said it as if though it was the most obvious reason.

"Ah..."said Xander trailing of like a light bulb just went off in his head."Buff, I`m really sorry, "he said making his famous puppy dog eyes at her.

Buffy wiped the tears on her face away and taking a deep breath she said, "It's okay Xand,it`s not your fault or anyone elses`,its just this whole mess.

And I`m just not use to being like this and hopefully I won`t be like this for very long. "said Buffy with some hope in her voice.

The others just nodded not wanting to give her false hope. Then Willow decided that they should all go and get ready and then they`d take Buffy clothes shopping and she hoped she didn`t sound too excited.

Buffy on the other hand dreaded the whole day but if she liked shopping as adult Buffy, she was sure she`d enjoy shopping and buying clothes even though it was for her four year old self.

So they all went downstairs and there was a few jokes from Dawn, who told Buffy she could finally eat marshmallow cereal without feeling immature.

Then Dawn got a scolding from Tara and that was it for the morning. It was already around ten when they headed out. They all agreed to meet at the magic box at two like Giles said.

Willow, Tara and Buffy left shortly thereafter and Dawn had already left for school hours ago.

Meanwhile

It was already noon and Faith was walking through a park. It was a quiet part of the park and hardly anyone was there.

Instead of her usual dark leather pants and her normally revealing dressing style, she was wearing a form fitting pair of dark blue jeans with a black studded belt.

A plain white form fitting t-shirt with Nine Inch Nails on it in wash out form and a light suede black jacket with black boots.

Her dark and heavy makeup was gone in favour of a lighter look, but she was still as sexy as hell in her opinion.

She had her hair curly hair flowing around her shoulders and it blew in the slight breeze. She suddenly saw a very small but cute, little blonde girl.

`She looked kinda small for her age', thought Faith to herself. The little blonde girl was at the swings by herself. She had on a little yellow sundress with white shoes.

Her short blonde hair had a white hairband in it completing the cute and innocent look in Faiths opinion.

She looked exactly like one of those perfect little princesses you`d fine in the perfect family's photographs.

But she had to admit that she had a soft spot for cute little blondes and this cute and quite adorable little blonde was no acceptation.

Suddenly Faith saw a boy with bright red hair and freckles, that looked around maybe six or seven years old and he was around the heavy side.

He was approaching the little blonde girl on the swings from behind, and Faith thought the fat kid was maybe going to play on the swings with her.

But boy was she wrong, she caught the mischievous look in his eyes and even her Slayer speed wouldn`t help her cause the kid was too close to the girl already.

She watched everything in a sort of slow motion effect. The girl flew off the swing going,"Aaaahhh!!"and dust flying in her face and the stupid fat little kid was laughing his ass off.

Faith quickly made her way over towards the two and when the red haired fat boy seen Faith glaring at him he ran faster than he`d probably ever ran in his entire fat life away from them.

She quickly kneeled down besides the tiny little blonde girl who hadn`t gotten up yet."Hey there cutie, are you okay?"she asked in her usual raspy and husky voice.

The little girl looked up at who came to her rescue and her eyes got wide as saucers.

But Faith didn`t notice and carried on speaking even though she felt something weird spark within herself when she looked into the little blondes hazel green eyes,

"I saw you take quite a fall back there, are your parents around here somewhere?"she asked in an unusually soft and gentle way.

After the blonde girl gaped at Faith like a gold fish she all of sudden remembered that this was FAITH!

Then suddenly she forgot that she was a four year old with no Slayer powers and shouted, "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Faith pulled away from the little blonde in shock and with slightly wide eyes."Err...I`m sorry, but did you just say what I think you did??!"

She asked taken aback by the behaviour that the four year old was displaying. The blonde girl started to glare at Faith which caused Faith to move back even more.

It was kind of scary the way she was looking at her, and she looked so innocent too."What are you doing out of prison?!Did you escape?!"

Shouted the blonde in her high pitched and nasally voice. Now Faith stood up and was towering over the little blonde.

She was now officially freaked out. Who the hell was this girl, "Look whoever you are, I don`t know who the fu-the heck ya are but your startin ta creep me out here..."

Then Faith looked around quickly trying to find whoever the little blonde was with. But the little girls eyes got wide realising why Faith didn`t know who she was.

`Duh,`thought Buffy to herself, mentally berating herself,' no wonder she was so nice to me when that boy pushed me off the swings, she doesn`t know it`s me.`

Buffy heard Faith sighing and then looked up at her and took her in for the first time in over two years.

Faith definitely was still as gorgeous as she when they first met, not that Buffy thought she was gorgeous or anything. She was very straight...

But she was different now. No leather and heavy makeup and Buffy had to admit she liked the new look.

Faith kneeled down infront of her and Buffy moved back just out of instinct, but she saw a brief look of hurt cross Faiths features but then it disappeared suddenly.

And Buffy felt a little guilty then, but reminded herself that this was Faith. She didn`t feel remorse for hurting them, and so why should she?

Faith tried to break the silence and spoke up, "You know I knew a cute little blonde like yourself that was just as feisty as you..."she trailed off remembering things from her past and then saw the little blonde about to say something.

"Hey! Just hold on a second, k.I wasn`t makin fun of ya height or nothing, I think ya all kinds of sweet and ya just remind me off a cute little blonde that I know. "she said with a soft smile that Buffy had never seen on her before.

For some reason Buffy felt herself blush and she looked towards the ground. Faith noticed the blush on the little girls face and became somewhat amused.

"You know your even more cuter when you blush, "said Faith trying to make the little blonde blush even more and she couldn`t stop the grin from forming when it did.

`She gets me to blush even as a four year old?!`thought Buffy indigently to herself. Suddenly becoming angry with herself Buffy shouted,

"Faith, hello!!"she waved her tiny little arms around," I am that cute blonde you keep talking about!!..."and her eyes got wide just realising what she said.

Faith looked confused for a few seconds and then all of a sudden realisation filled her eyes and Buffy saw it.

"B?!"she shouted moving closer to Buffy and grabbing her tiny shoulders surprisingly very gently."No way! Buffy?"she asked once again, looking closer at her.

Buffy just nodded her tiny little head, getting lost in Faith dark eyes. Buffy could always tell what Faith was feeling by looking in her eyes .

And she saw many things at that moment, realisation, some fear, amusement, happiness and affection, and was that...love?

Buffy had to shake her head to get those weird thoughts out of her head. She didn`t have feelings for Faith and never had. She was a killer and evil.

But Faith had always been able to effect Buffy whenever she was around her. Faith had many feelings running through her at that moment.

Buffy was standing right there infront of her, barely a metre tall. All Faith could do was stare at her not knowing what to say.

Buffy wave her little hand infront of Faiths face getting uncomfortable at the way Faith was looking at her and not answering her questions.

A little cut on Buffys` hand caught Faiths attention immediately because it was bleeding and Buffy didn`t seem to notice it.

She gently pulled Buffys tiny little hand into her own and she observed how tiny Buffy really was, and the thinking `no wonder girlfriend aint that tall as big B...`

Buffy watched speechless at Faiths behaviour as she wiped away the blood from her palm so gently as not to hurt her.

Who was this person?!Faith wasn`t gentle or caring and before she could voice her thoughts, Faith kissed the back of her hand innocently, and with such warmth in her eyes, it made Buffy's heart flutter and beat like a racing drum.

"All better..."she whispered but before she could continue speaking a voice called out to Buffy.

When Faith turned around she saw a face she recognised as Willow and another that was slightly familiar as well, it was Willow chick, Tara was her name she remembered suddenly.

Before Faith could say anything Willows eyes went wide and she shrieked like a banshee as Faith would say and suddenly she sees her eyes go black.

And then she`s sent flying across the park and being thrown into a seesaw and making a huge dent in it.

` And man did that hurt like a bitch! When did Red get so powerful?!`, thought Faith while groaning slightly in pain.

So much for hoping for no violence she thought bitterly. That blast was powerful and she was sure she broke a rib or two or three. It was time to face the music...


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters or the show itself,ECT

Chapter4

"Willow!"shouted Tara as she ran towards her. She couldn`t believe Willow just used her magic like that and Faith was unarmed.

She grabbed her arm and turned her around."Willow she wasn`t doing anything!!"she shouted. Willow looked down ashamed at herself, not because she hurt Faith but because she let Tara down.

"I-I`m s-sorry, "stuttered Willow and then began to babble, "but when I saw it was Faith, I don`t know what happened ,I-I just lost it and all I could think of was that she was going to hurt Buffy and now she`s so tiny and, "Tara stopped Willow with the raise of her hand.

"It doesn`t matter what you thought, we both could see she wasn`t doing anything to hurt Buffy and how would she even know that it was Buffy in the first place?"She asked frowning at her.

But she carried on speaking not letting Willow reply," and it`s not only that Willow, "she paused trying to calm and compose the anger she felt," you promised me you wouldn`t use your magic like that again. But you clearly don`t care about breaking any promises you`ve made to me lately."

She said in an eerily calm voice and was referring to the incident when Willow erased her memory not too long ago and that had stung. The hurt was clearly shown in Willows eyes.

Tara felt guilty about saying what she did but she couldn`t let Willow make excuses like this for her behaviour. She had let Willow off the hook one too many times and if she ever wanted their relationship back to the way it was before, she had to make an effort.

Tara just looked at Willow with disappointment shinning in her eyes. Just as Willow was about to say something a groaning sound coming from Faith interrupted the couple from furthering their argument.

"Damn Red, ya got some wicked mojo going on there, "she said in raspy and slightly cracked voice from the pain of her ribs but it wasn`t anything she couldn`t handle.

"Yeah,I do, so don`t even think of trying anything funny, "she shouted momentarily forgetting the argument she and Tara had a few seconds ago, "or I`ll make you wish you were dead."

And she said that part so coldly that shivers ran down Faiths spine.`Damn!Red finally grew a pair, well metaphorically speaking. And when did she get so...Intimidating? `

The sweet and lovable red haired nerd from Sunnydale high seemed to have disappeared and replaced with this person infront of her, who didn`t seem like someone Willow would have turned out be.

And Faith felt guilty that it was somehow her fault that Willow was this way. That maybe because of what she had done to Willow and the rest of them, she changed and became this angry and cold person she was now.

It also got Faith curious as to what had happened while she was in prison. She knew only a few things about what went down in SunnyD from what Angel told her.

Buffy fighting a Hell God named Glory and dying again, which she knew before Angel told her. It was like this huge energy surge that hit her while she was in her cell.

It put her into another coma but just for two days this time. And only a few other details, like Dawn wasn`t really real and was a Key, it was really confusing for Faith.

They didn`t think she needed to know anything else and they didn`t trust her aswell, so she wasn`t told the whole story.

"Aint here to cause trouble, I`m just here ta apologize and, "but Willow stopped her before she could finish,"No! You can`t just suddenly strut back into our lives, with the leather pants and the sexual innuendos and apologize.

What?!You just expect us to forgive you just because you went to prison?! And talking about the `Big House', "said Willow making air quotations, "don't you think you should be keeping a low profile, seeing as the police will definitely be looking for you. "she replied snidely glaring daggers at her.

Faith smirked at Willow and said,"Nope, I`m a free woman, no escaping required. Ya `ll would`ve known about it later today at the magic box. Giles said that he`d call a meeting..."said Faith as she trailed off.

"What?!!"shouted Willow near hysterics, "Giles knew about this?!How?!What, is he crazy?! Does he want us all to be stabbed and beaten painfully in a torturous death?!!"She said breathing heavy and her thoughts running a thousand miles per minute.

Suddenly the unusually quiet Buffy decides to speak up....I mean make them aware of her presence which everyone seemed to have forgotten.

"Guys!!"she shouted getting all of their attention."You know I`m still here right? Cause I`ve been standing here for the past ten minutes excluding the part where Wills decides to go all dark Willow on Faith here..."

She looked up at them and Faith spoke,"Damn sorry B, but ya are kind of tiny, an` please try not ta speak using big words, its creepin` me out yo,"she said, now frowning at the glaring Buffy.

"Firstly, "she said and her voice still sounding so childish Faith could help but smile slightly, "I'm not tiny okay! So everyone stop calling me tiny, I`m just short for my age and I`ll be taller when I'm turned back to normal."

"Not by much though, "mumbled Faith under her breath, and luckily Buffy didn`t have her Slayer hearing at the moment to hear the comment.

"What did you say?!"asked Buffy sure she heard Faith mumble something."Nothing, "she said quickly and Buffy just let it go for now because there were other things going on.

"And secondly I can`t help it if I sound funny, I`m freakin four years old for god sakes!!"she shouted throwing her short and ssmall hands in the air for emphasis.

Then she notices that she has a few cuts on her other hand aswell and even her knees were slightly scrapped.

`Damn Faith can be very distracting,' she thought."Oh my God, Buffy are you alright?!"asked Willow as she rushed to Buffy's side."What happened, did Faith do this to you?!It was her wasn`t it!!"she shouted frantically sounding almost like a lunatic.

"No, Wills Faith didn`t do this to me, "she said shocking herself by defending Faith and also trying to calm down her very powerful Wiccan best friend.

"She didn`t hurt me... this time," she said pointedly looking at Faith and saw her flinch slightly from the iciness in her voice.

She wondered how she made her voice sound like that when she was only just only four and sounded like a mouse on helium.

"It was some stupid boy who pushed me of the swing, "she said sighing. She didn`t want to go back to her preschool days, when she always got picked on because she was the tiniest in class.

"Yeah,but the fat bastard ran faster than lightning when he saw me comin`,"pipped up Faith smiling slightly trying not to feel uncomfortable with all the tension going around.

"Yeah, even kids can tell a killer if they see one, " said Willow harshly. Faith knew they would make harsh comments like this but it didn`t hurt Tara on the other hand was shocked.

She`d never seen Willow treat anyone like this before. And even if they did something to her, she wasn`t as harsh and terrible as she was to Faith. She felt like she didn`t even know her own girlfriend anymore.

Buffy on the other hand was shocked at what Willow said and she was the only one that saw the look in Faiths eyes. It was pure hurt and for some insanely strange reason Buffy's heart hurt for her.

`Oh my God?!Being a four year old is messing with my head?!Or I `m going clinically insane!' she thought with slight panic and worry.

Faith finally finding her voice, blocking all traces of hurt evident from Willows comment and said,"Look,I`m just going ta go.G-man is `Spectin` me and yeah...I guess I`ll see ya guys later..."

Buffy knew she shouldn`t feel bad about what just happened because she didn`t owe Faith anything but decided to say something anyways and it was unexpected,"Er...do you need a ride? Cause we...err already on our way to the magic box, anyway..."she said trailing off sounding so unsure of herself.

Willow was gapping at Buffy like a fish out of water and Tara smiled slightly at Buffy's nervous behaviour. She knew Faith wasn`t here to hurt them all again.

No, she could tell from reading her aura that she was truly sorry for all she had done in her past and that she had changed. And she was going to give her a second chance even if the rest of them didn`t.

Faith was thrown off guard by Buffy kind gesture but replied "Err, thanks B, but I got my bike, "she said jabbing her thumb behind her showing a Harley parked off to the side."Oh..."said Buffy making an O shape with her mouth which Faith found adorable and couldn`t help smiling at it.

Unconsciously Buffy smiled back at her the smile she use to give only to Faith before all the shit happened between them, and not even realising it, until Faith cleared her throat.

"Well I gotta go, seeya later B,"she said and with that she turned her back to them and began to walk. They weren`t too far away from Faith yet and she could hear Buffs high pitched and nasally voice and Taras talking as they walked.

"So are you sure your okay Buffy, you did take a nasty fall back there, "said Tara in her usual gentle and caring voice."Yeah I`m fine, "replied B,"But err..."she hesitated for a few seconds and then said, "Could we maybe get me an ice-cream?"she asked innocently.' Probably batting her eyelashes,' thought Faith to herself with a chuckle.

Faith heard soft laughter and giggling coming from them and couldn`t help but feel happy. She would take all the harsh comments the gang and everyone threw at her, as long as she got to hear Buffy's sweet laugh once again.

But she knew she would have to work hard to show them she had really changed and especially Buffy, who she had hurt the most. She started up her Bike and it roared to life as she took off with her mind thinking of ways she would prove to them she was different now.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters or the show itself, ECT

Chapter 5

The atmosphere at the Magic Box was tense. Everybody was gathered around the table with books and were researching the demon that attacked Buffy. Earlier on Faith was the first to arrive at the Magic Box before Buffy and the others. Xander was fixing up a shelf near the entrance and when Faith entered, and he screamed.

Like a girl.

Anya was broken out of her concentration behind the counter, counting the money in the till and asked, "Xander, why are you screaming like a little girl?"then she was looking confused and frowning at Faith who she now saw standing at the entrance.

"It`s Faith! Quick throw me that axe, An!!"he shouted in full panic mode.' Well atleast he doesn`t have any mojo goin on like Red, but I don`t think X-man could do anything to me with an axe,' she thought smirking inwardly. Some old habits die hard.

"Oh!"said Anya with her eyes lighting up with excitement and a wide smile forming on her face, "Your Faith! The psycho Slayer. I`ve heard so much about you, "said Anya in her very blunt and usual way extending her hand for Faith to shake. Faith shook her hand hesitantly and quirked a curious eyebrow at her.

`This chick was crazy, and very blunt,' thought Faith,' Xander sure knows how to pick em. `"Yeah that's me the crazy psycho Slayer, "replied Faith unable to help that same old smirk from forming."Xander,why did you say she was crazy? She doesn`t seem crazy to me?"

"An, you don`t know her like we do, she tried to kill us my God, we got to warn Buffy!!"he shouted going into panic mode trying to find his phone. As the commotion was going on Giles stepped out of the back room and saw Faith.

"Ah,Faith your just on time, I see that Xander is already aware of your prescence,"he remarked stating the obvious."Well he better be or else he is definitely going insane and off his nutter and screaming for no reason.""Right... "said Giles looking quite confused at what was going on. Even though he had spoken with Angel the day before he was still going to be cautious about Faith. But he was willing to give her a chance to prove herself to them.

He knew in the beginning, that the things in the past that happened with Faith was partly his fault, and responsibility. They should have done more to help her .With what she was going through back then, they could have all tried harder, including himself. He was indeed her Watcher for a while and he failed her. They didn`t give her any chances back then and now he thought that they atleast owed her this one chance to prove herself.

"Xander if you are quite through with the histerics, could we talk about this more calmly?"he asked sounding even more British if that was possible."What?!More calmly?!Have you gone insane man!!"After pausing for a second he realised something."You knew she was coming?!Giles a heads up would`ve been nice you know. Instead of this surprise and me screaming like a girl as Anya would helpfully point ,`Oh hey guys, just wanted to let you to know that Faith the crazy Slayer that tried to kill us all will be coming back into town,' but noooo,No one thinks it's important for us to know. Is this because I took the last doughnut last night? Cause I said I was sorry! You didn`t have to send Faith after me.""If you are done being ridiculous and making a fool of yourself you will get the answers to your questions."Just then Willow, Tara and Buffy entered the magic box.

"Well it seems that Xander knows Faith is back, "she said sarcastically. Buffy rolled her eyes and said, "Can we please just get this meeting over with? I'm getting tired and even annoyed at all these dodging of questions being asked."Buffy sounded like a true whiny four year old and Faith couldn`t help but smirk at her."Ya know B if that ice-cream was so good, maybe ya shouldn`t have shared it with the rest of ya face, "she replied her smirk just getting bigger.

Buffy creased her eye brows together in confusion, "What are you talking about?"she asked momentarily having forgotten that she had an ice-cream just before they entered. Faith just walked up to Buffy, who was being held by Tara in her arms at the moment and used her thumb to take away the vanilla ice-cream that was smudged on her chubby little blushed a dark shade of pink, but Faith couldn`t help but smile a genuine smile at the adorableness that was just Buffy Summers.

"Err....Thanks, "she squeaked out, and Tara had to hide her knowing smile from the two of them. She could sense something more than anger and hate between the two of them. She just hoped they would both figure it out before it was too late."No problem, B,"replied Faith now standing a few feet away from Buffy while Tara set her down on the floor.

"I see that you girls went clothes shopping for Buffy, and it would seem that it was the right idea, "said Giles looking at Buffy once again like she was the most fascinating creature he`d ever seen. Buffy glared at him and put her hands on her hips and said,"Giles,what`s going on? And will you quite looking at me like that!!I`m a human being for gods sakes. You`d think you never seen a small child in your life berofe,"she rolled her eyes glaring daggers at Giles. Giles for his part looked equally flustered and nervous, even as a toddler Buffy was very intimidating."It`s not that I`ve never, er, per say seen a small child. While you are a small child and you still seem to have your adult state of mind your are quite extraordinarily tiny for someone of your,"

"Giles just finish that sentence, c`mon.I dare you, "said Buffy through clenched teeth and narrowed eyes, a fire burning in them. Giles audibly gulped and the others couldn`t help the smiles that broke free even in the very awkward and tense tininess seemed to be an ice breaker for awkward and tense silences. That voice of hers was just hilarious and Anya the kind soul that she is decided to finally say something that had Faith laughing so hard she thought she`d need stitches for her lungs."Why is everybody so concerned about Buffy? I don`t see anything different or wrong with her?Xander you said she was attacked by some demon that made her small and maybe she is slightly less shorter now, but she still seems to be exactly the same like she was yesterday...."

Everything was silent and then a loud chuckle coming straight from Faith, then followed by some giggles from Willow who unfortunately couldn`t stop her own laughter .But Tara had the decency to hide it behind her hand. Even Giles seemed to be very amused.

Xander on the other hand was the picture of pure panic. Wide eyes filled with horror looking at Buffy just waiting for her to start the water works. Anya just looking very annoyed that everyone was laughing at what she just said. She was only telling them the facts, what was so funny?`Humans.`was all she thought shaking her head as she walked back to the counter to continue counting the money.."Buffy I`m so, so, so sorry, you know Anya sometimes says the wrong things, you know how she is and..."The laughing seemed to be calming down as they heard Xander talking to Buffy. Then they all saw that Buffys eyes were glistening with tears."Shit B, are ya gonna cry? Ya know it was just a joke right??"she said looking at the others for reassurance hoping that even though they all didn`t like her very much, that they would at least agree with her for Buffys sake.

Tara nodded her head quickly and so did the others but Buffys eyes looked near leaking point. She was very upset and being this age again brought up memories for her she didn`t really want to remember. They all think she had a really great life before she became the Slayer and she did, but not everything was sunshine and daisies for her.

She was always the main target for all the bullies back in kinder garden till the sixth grade. But kindergarten was the worst. They`d tease her and torture her because of her size and it always got to her and her self confidence. It took her a while to get the confidence she had now and being The Slayer also helped alot with that issue. She quickly rubbed at her eyes so she wouldn`t cry. She wasn`t going to cry infront of everyone and especially if Faith was there. She`d end up teasing her even more than the rest of them. She shook her head and decided to speak.

"I`m fine guys, it`s lets get this meeting over with and Giles you can tell us why Faith is here, "she said starting to walk to the table so they could start the research. Giles nodded and they all followed, not wanting Buffy to rethink her no crying policy and start up again.

Once they were all seated, with Buffy between Willow and Tara which she had a feeling was because of what happened earlier in the park and her using her magic on Faith. And Xander, Giles and Faith sat across from them with Giles between the two. Buffy glanced up at Faith and saw that she was still looking at Buffy and it was with a strange softness that made her feel all warm and tingly inside and she didn`t have her Slayer powers, and she wasn`t suppose to get any tingles from Faith. She had to break their eye contact immediately because this was Faith. She tried to kill them all and she would be damn if she let her come back into their lives and hurt them again.

She`d betrayed Buffy once before, who's to say that she wouldn`t betray them again. That when she`d finally gain their trust that she would turn against them. Buffy wouldn`t allow Faith to hurt her, them again.

So Faith explained what happened and why she was out of jail. She told them that after about a year and six months in prison some lawyer comes up to her and tells her she`s free to go, and so she's been fighting for the good side alongside with Angel and the rest of his gang.

Buffy wanted to believe what Angel said was true, that Faith had changed as Giles had told them when he had spoken with Angel earlier, but if Faith wanted their forgiveness she was going to earn it and it wasn`t going to be easy. Willow seemed to be the hardest one to convince and it was only the persuasion from Tara that she said she would think about it.

Now that's where they were all now. Around a table researching in an awkward and uncomfortable environment. Giles mercifully decides to end all their torture and speaks up,"Well I`ve just found the demon you describe Buffy, "he said, and before he could continue Buffy launched herself onto the table scattering the books and making her way over to Giles. She walked across the table with everyone looking at her with shocked filled eyes, and open mouths, except for Faith, who found it very entertaining. She quickly grabbed the book Giles had in his hands which was bigger than her entire body but she seemed to be holding it just fine although she struggled a bit. She was oblivious to the looks she was getting too excited in Giles having actually found a way to turn her back. After about a minute of silence and looks all around Xander decides to say,"Okay,if anybody found that to be the most weirdest thing we`ve ever seen the Buffster doing raise your hand." He and Willow both raised their hands still looking at their friend but she was too busy reading what Giles found than to care that they were talking about her.

"Well least it wasn`t adult Buffy leaping onto Giles from across the table, she`d be in his lap by now and that would be fucking hilarious, "said Faith who was grinning at Buffy with amusement shining clearly in her eyes. Both Willow and Xander nodded as if though they were in some kind of trance agreeing and shaking their heads, picturing adult Buffy doing what Faith described. Then they both shook their heads doing a double take. Did they just agree with Faith??!They looked at each other like they were both insane for some reason but Buffy shouting in a dramatic fashion stopped them from asking each other that question.

"Nooooo!"she whined falling on the table lying on her stomach and kicking her feet."Giles please tell me this is a joke!!"she said looking at him on the verge of another almost tear fest. Giles stumbled a bit from being asked so directly and still recovering from Buffy almost literally pouncing on him, he started to clean his glasses."Well, err, it would seem that all you read is true..."he paused cleaning his glasses once more, "C'mon G,tell us whats the what, "said Faith looking at Buffy who was now currently hitting herself in the head with a book. Luckily Tara pulled the book away. They didn`t need Buffy to be suffering from brain damage as well.

"Well it would seem that this demon whose name I can not find at this time,has the ability to use would also seem that his main magical power would be to send a person back to a time in his or her life that they found most difficult,"he paused and looked at Buffy who was now trying to get off the table and avoid looking at anyone."Buffy,is there something you`d like to tell us?"asked Giles very curious to know why Buffy found this age so difficult instead of her later years such as her teens.

Buffy sighed knowing she was n`t going to get out of this, but she had no choice, they`d find a way to get it out of her eventually. Everybody waited for her explanation. Faith could see how hesitant Buffy was but she didn`t know what she could do to help. But she was also curious to know what made this stage off Buffys life her hardest.

Taking one more deep breath she said,"It`s cause I was small...."she mumbled."What??"asked Xander and Willow at the same time leaning forward not being able to hear Buffy who mumbled her answer. Faith though heard it thanks to Slayer hearing and frowned.' What the hell does that mean?' she wondered."It was because I was small and no,the rest of them weren`t also as small as me.I was the tiniest, seriously. Even the teachers sometimes would skip me out when they were counting for roll call. And then there were the other kids who liked to push me around and make fun of me, "Faith heard Buffys voice crack with emotion, even if while she was speaking she had a high pitched and nasally sounding voice Faith still heard the pain in her voice and so did broke her heart and the others were too busy trying to figure out still why this was such a difficult time for Buffy.`Idiots,all of `em`said Faith to herself. She glanced up at Tara nad saw that she too realised that Buffy was getting emotional and the others didn`t realise it. Faith nodded slightly at her and then said loudly, "Okay I think we get it, so let's get on to how we can reverse this, "said Faith trying to sound impatient so Buffy wouldn`t think that everybody would make a big deal about what she just said. Buffy on her part was relieved that Faith interrupted and was so nonchantlant about what she just told them. Willow and Xander finally looked like the light bulb went on and so did Giles and they quickly changed the subject to Faiths question.

"Yes quite right Faith. It would seem that you`d only need the horns from the demons arms to use in a somewhat simple spell that I or Willow and Tara could perform.""But, "said Xander joining in on the conversation knowing there was always a But."But it would seem that the demon would only come out on a full moon. A full moon which is in another twenty-one days from now."Buffy was now finally on her chair with slumped shoulders looking miserable."And there is also one more thing, "he said nervously," Buffy would have to use her time as a four year old and have one meaningful bonding moment with someone older than herself before the 21th day is over."Everyone looked confused at this so Giles explained, "Buffy will need to spend time with each of you as you all are older than her doing various things, and in that way bonding. Like what a mother and daughter would do together or father and son.

It would just be about making a connection which would be fairly simple, "he said confidently."So what your trying to say is we each should like have a Buffy bonding take her to the park or the playground?"asked Xander with raised eyebrows."Oh way to make me sound like a dog Xander,"said Buffy quickly said a,`sorry` and looked away sheepishly."Yes, well if you consider that bonding then that is what you shall do,"said Giles collecting some of the books Buffy threw all over the floor when she leapt onto the table.

"So,we each should just make time with Buffy and just do things with her,right?"asked Willow confirming everything that was just told."Yes and it will be possible for all of you to spend time with her .Twenty-one days is enough time for the four of you to spend time with Buffy. "replied Giles standing up ready to end the meeting."Wait!!"shouted Willow,"What do you mean four of us?It`s only me ,Tara and Xander and I don`t think bonding time with Dawnie would help Buffy and Anya,is not really the bonding type,no offence Xand,""None taken,"he said giving her his goofy smile."But who else is there?"Giles looked at her like she`d grown another head and then replied frowning,"Why Faith ofcourse,"and with that he walked away to the backroom ending the meeting,leaving behind a wide eyed Faith and a shocked and horrified Willow and Xander behind.

`Shit this is just not my day.`said Faith to herself sighing heavily and sinking into her all the death glares she was receiving now that Giles was gone she was surprised she didn`t spontaneously atleast Tara wasn`t glaring at her,and Buffy just seemed to be off in her own world.

She was doing that cute frowning thing she always does when she was in deep just wanted to reach over and smooth the creases away."Look guys,I`m not here to hurt anyone especially Buffy okay?I`m goining to be helping you guys if you want it or not. I`ll get the horns from the demon for the spell on the night of the full moon, cause B aint gonna be able to do it unless she tries to kill em with her cute smile and bubbly voice, "she said head snapped up at the comment Faith made and Faith just winked at her and it caused Buffy to blush furiously and it made Faith give her a dimpled smile.

Buffy just huffed and crossed her arms and looked away from Faith."So you guys need me, "said Faith standing up, "tell Giles I`ll see him later, "and with that she sauntered out of the magic box with them looking at her leave.' Faith always has to get the last word,' thought Buffy to herself as she watched Faith walk out the door and telling herself that she was not looking at Faiths ass as she sauntered out.

And it would be so wrong seeing as she was now only four years old."I need a drink!"she exclaimed loudly after hearing the bell on the door ring signalling Faiths departure."Oooh,I have some apple juice, "said Willow reaching in her bag."Nah,no thanks Wills. I think I need something a little stronger, like maybe Scotch. You think Giles would mind if I raided his stash?"she asked them innocently.

They all looked at her with mouths hanging wide open."What?"she asked clearly confused. When they didn`t answer because they were still in shock, she sighed and said, "Whatever," and slid off her chair and wandered off behind the counter to find that bottle of Scotch.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don`t own anything, ECT

Ok so here the new chapter. Sorry for taking so long to update, and Please Review and tell me what you think so far.

Chapter 6

Buffy was lying in her bed groaning. And no it wasn`t because she had a hangover, but she really wished she did. Earlier on when she was looking for that bottle of Scotch which she really was planning on having, but two things stood in her way. One, she was too short to reach the bottle and even on a stool she couldn`t reach it. Two, the others denied her any access to it forever until she was normal again.

So what if she was stuck in her four year old self's body? She needed to forget for awhile. She needed a damn drink. Everything felt like it was spinning out of control for her and not in a good and drunk kind of way.

First she gets turned into a four year old, then Faith shows up and everyone is going crazy cause the psycho murderer is back and now she`ll be stuck like this for the next three weeks!

`God, when can I ever catch a break?!`she thought to herself bitterly. Nothing was ever easy and being The Slayer meant nothing was ever going to be easy. This was the Hellmouth and it would always be busy planning something and something else to ruin her life.

She should have taken Anya up on her offer to give her some of that Scotch when nobody was looking. She didn`t see anything wrong in letting Buffy have a drink. But Buffy knew better and that it would have been really stupid and irresponsible of her to be boozing in her four year old self body. One sip and she would definitely have been knocked her out. Even as tiny Buffy, she was still always doing the right thing.

It was a new day and the sun was shining and the birds were chirping away and Buffy was still tiny and under her warm blankets planning on sleeping the three weeks away, too bad everyone else didn`t get the memo.

"Morning Buffy, "said a very cheerful Willow throwing Buffy's curtains wide open, allowing the sun to pour in. This caused Buffy to groan more, well it sounded now more like a petulant child whining at their parents for waking them up so early.

"Wills, why are you waking me up so early?"she asked rubbing her chubby and small little hands over her eyes."Silly, it`s already past ten in the morning and we can`t let you sleep in all day, "she said as if though it was the most obvious thing to say.

"It's a Saturday, "she whined and sounding almost exactly like Dawn, "why can`t I sleep in?"she asked blinking up at Willow.

Willow looked at her and immediately had to push the urge to `aww` and `coo` at Buffy. The way she looked up at her blinking like an innocent baby deer with wide questioning eyes, she just wanted to smother her up in a hug and squish her like her new favourite stuffed toy.' It was all about self control,' she told herself, nodding internally.

"Hello, earth to Willow..."said Buffy waving her little hand infront of Willows face. Her friend was just staring at her with a strange look on her face and spacing off."Huh...What?"she asked coming back from her thoughts of wanting to squish Buffy like a toy."I said why do I have to be up? I'm not doing anything today. And I definitely can`t go to work looking like this, "she said pointing to herself. Willow started to giggle and Buffy couldn`t help but laugh with her thinking about how funny that would have been.

After the laughter died down, Willow said, "Well we`re going to spend the day together and I have classes till two but Tara has no classes today, so you and her will be `bonding', "she said with air quotes.

Buffy rolled her eyes at that."Why do we have to do this again? Because I really don`t see the use in this whole connecting with an adult thing. I am an adult, can`t I just have some quality Buffy time and then that's it?"she asked hopefully.

"I`m sorry Buff but I read what it said, and you don`t have a choice and having `Buffy Time` doesn`t count. But you don't have to worry, "said Willow sounding more cheerful than she was minutes ago."We`re going to do so much of fun things together and...""No!!Willow I know what your definition of fun is, you all are going to take me to the park for a walk, like a dog. And then feed me ice-cream and junk food and dress me up like a doll and take pictures with me and, "

Willow quickly cut her best friend off and said,"No, no, we`ll do other fun stuff too and whatever you want to do. We all need to spend time with you and you can give us suggestions if you want. Plus we are your best friends and bonding with us will be easy and you`ll be able to turn back with no problems in no time."

Buffy felt hopeful at that, but then if her friends would be better at bonding with her then why did she have to spend time with Faith? How was that going to help her??"But then why is Giles making me spend time with Faith? It doesn`t make any sense, "said Buffy speaking her thoughts out aloud.

Willow had a scowl on her face at the mention of the ex rogue Slayers name,"Yeah, I talked to Giles about that and he said we wouldn`t know which one of us helped you with the real and meaningful bonding connection. So that's why we all have to spend time with you, including...Faith. Just in case..."she trailed off not liking that Buffy had to spend any time with Faith.

Buffy was in deep thought after that. Willow said that she`d be back later and Tara would be there soon. But couldn`t help but let her mind wonder off and think about what Faith would do with her if they spent the day together. `Maybe she`d try to kill me...Oh my God I knew I couldn`t trust her!' and then suddenly she snapped out of her thoughts and she realised that she was overacting. Faith didn`t even hurt her when she found out Buffy was now a four year old when they were in the park. But just in case, she`d ask Willow for some kind of protection spell or something. She didn`t want to died as a four year old and plus Faith would want a challenge and wait for Buffy to be back to normal.

All of these thoughts were going through her head the entire day. She knew she was being irrational but with Faith you had to be careful and not let your guard down or else you`d be dead.

Spending the day with Tara was quiet relaxing, and something Buffy hadn`t expected. She thought Willow would`ve told her to take her to the mall or the park and do some kiddies activity with her. But nope,she came over about half an hour after Willow left and made Buffy some delicious pancakes which she devoured not realising how hungry she really was.

They just spent the entire day in town walking around and talking about everything and nothing and Buffy liked it. They went to the Espresso Pump and Tara wouldn`t allow her to have any coffee or caffeine and so she had to make do with a hot chocolate and a big chocolate sprinkled doughnut. The doughnut was almost as big as her head.

Some people looked at her and awed and cooed at her like she was some kind of cute stuffed Kola bear. People came up to Tara asking who she was and telling her, that Buffy was just the cutest little thing that they`d ever seen.

And by the time all the complimenting and the cooing was over Buffy was sure she was permanently going to have a blush. Tara just smiled politely and told them thank you and saying she was just looking after Buffy for a friend. She had to hide a few smiles and giggles from Buffy, because some of the comments made by passersby were very funny. Buffy was definitely a very cute and adorable child and everybody who saw her couldn`t deny that.

The chocolate doughnut she was eating was smeared on her cheeks and nose and she didn`t even realise it until Tara pointed it out to her. But other than that Buffy liked the time she spent with Tara and she almost, almost forgot she was four years old. But it was kind of hard when everyone they passed wanted to pinch her cheeks or squish her into a full body hug. Although she scored some free candy from a sweet old lady who told Buffy that she reminded her of her daughter when she was that little.

They got back home around five o`clock and Buffy had some sandwiches that were made earlier and then she went up for a nap which she found odd. She didn`t nap at five o`clock in the afternoon. She knew it was her inner four year old coming out and she really hoped she wouldn`t turn into one fully before the twenty one days were up.

When she woke up the whole gang was there, Xander, Anya, Willow and Tara. As she entered the others didn`t see her and so they carried on talking."So do you think it was a good idea to leave them alone in the kitchen. There are sharp and pointy weapons in there, "said Xander who was staring at the entrance of the kitchen willing whoever was in there to come out."It`s okay, she won`t do anything to Dawn and Dawn seemed very excited when she saw her, "said Tara softly trying to calm everyone down from panicking.

"Yeah but it`s so quiet, oh my god what if she`s chocking her and that's why there`s no noise and Dawnie is trying to get out attention!!"Willow was about to sprint into the kitchen ready to take Faith apart but Tara gripped her hand and said, "Willow you need to calm down. Faith won`t hurt know I read her aura and she's not here to cause any trouble."

Willow trusted Tara and what she saw but she just found it very hard to trust Faith with anyone she cared about. Faith was a killer and she hurt the people she cared about before. She sighed heavily and was about to respond to Tara but a tiny blonde blur ran past all of them, leaving them all frowning momentarily and then realising that the blonde blur was Buffy and she just over heard them speaking about Faith.

She was in the kitchen in a blink of an eye and it surprised them all, as she wasn`t a Slayer anymore. Faith was standing in their kitchen by the breakfast counter leaning against it with Dawn next to her. She was wearing a dark pair of black fitted jeans and a black wife beater with her leather jacket thrown over a chair and her black steel toed boots.

They were talking and joking about something but Buffy launched herself onto Faiths leg before they could even register that Buffy entered the kitchen. She wrapped her arms and legs around Faiths leg and thought,`Damn she has really nice legs` and proceeded to bite her.

"Motherfucker!!"shouted Faith quickly prying Buffy off her leg. She held her up with one hand in the air and looked at her weirdly and with a frown, "What the fuck was that for B?!"she asked and then set her down when Buffy started to swing her legs in mid-air trying to kick her. Faith rubbed her leg where Buffy bit her.`Damn,girls got some choppers on her,' she thought painfully. Even if she was a Slayer it still fuckin hurt."You were going to hurt Dawn! I knew we couldn`t trust you!!"shouted Buffy trying pathetically to hit at Faith but it just felt like two soft pillows whacking at her calves.

She tried not to show her amusement, so Buffy wouldn`t bite her again and that was not an option she wanted to have."What the fuck?!B, I would never hurt Dawn, we were just talking okay, "she said truthfully looking into Buffy's eyes. Then Dawn interrupted,"Yeah and if she was, I think I would have defended myself better, then to bite her on her calve like a crazy rabies infected pitbull."said Dawn snickering.

Faith couldn`t help but laugh at the pout Buffy had on her face and her now reddening was absolutely adorable.

The others saw what happened from the doorway and after that everything went silent, so Anya decided to say something, "Well I don`t think Buffy attacked Faith like a was more like one of those, what do you call those tiny little rat looking dogs, you know the ones all those celebrities are carrying around in their purses...""A Chihuahua?"said or more like asked Xander trying to be eyes lit up, "Yes!!Like those chihuahuas, and they so tiny and shiver alot and yelp like tiny little kittens..."

"I am not a Chihuahua!!"Shouted Buffy indigently and her voice rose an octave higher making her nasally sounding voice even more funny. Her arms were crossed over chest while the others giggled and laughed at her.

Faith didn`t understand what that weird fluttering feeling was in her chest and decided to ignore it and approached Buffy and picked her up surprising her and cradled her in one arm saying with a smirk,"Nah,B doesn`t look like a Chihuahua, she`s more of a Shih Tzu or King Charles Spaniel, "she said still smirking at Buffy who was now curled up in a ball trying to escape from Faith.

Faith was warm and smelled really, really good thought Buffy to herself and it made Buffy want to snuggle up against her and fall asleep again but she wouldn`t, it would be too weird and everybody else would freak out too.

Tara saw how Buffy was struggling to decide if she should stay in Faiths arms or wriggle herself out but Faith decided to finally put her down and Tara could have sworn she saw a disappointed look in Buffy eyes.

They spoke about Faith earlier on but all Buffy told Tara was that she and Faith were enemies and that they hated each other. But whatever was going on between the two was far from hate and they both knew it but kept on denying it.

"Okay well we`re about to start the movie marathon, "said Xander rubbing his hands together," so let`s do this, "he said getting now back to his normal excited and goofy self and then added, "Faith you can stay if you want. "and it sounded strained but atleast he was trying thought Faith.

Faith gave him a half smile and said, "Thanks but maybe another B outta commission I gotta do patrol soon and I hafta meet up with G-man later,""Oh,well okay, "said Xander now standing there awkwardly and saying a quick goodbye and then retreating back with the others to the living room.

Only Buffy and Faith were left in the kitchen. Faith grabbed her jacket and made her way to the backdoor but Buffys voice stopped her."Faith,"she said sounding hesitant,"um...I`m sorry about earlier, you know with the biting, usually I`d just punch you...But I`m tiny and Slayerless..."she trailed off not making eye contact with Faith. This was the first time Buffy apologized to Faith for anything and it was kind of awkward for her.

"Don`t sweat it by the way I wouldn`t say your Slayerless,you`ve got one powerful bite on ya,"she said then and pulled something out of her jeans pocket.

It was a cherry flavoured lollipop."Here, this is for ya,to say no hard feelings and whatever. The slayer healing will help with the bite mark and it will be gone in a half hour or so."She winked at Buffy and sauntered out the back door into the now cool night's breeze.

Buffy walked back into the living room where everyone was getting comfortable and she sat on the floor with a blanket and decided to have her lollipop Faith gave her. The others saw her with the lollipop but decided not to question her about it.

As the movie started she thought,' No wonder Faiths lips were sometimes always so red, she had cherry flavoured lollipops on her all the time...`and her mind drifted off to places they shouldn`t have been drifting off to.' I really like this flavour now,damn you Faith,' thought Buffy sighing heavily with a small frown and then went back to watching the movie.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don`t own anything

Please review. I love getting feedback from you guys.

Chapter 7

The days seemed to be going by very fast and Buffy was thankful for that. It was great spending so much time with all her friends, no slaying needed to be done and no apocalypses needed to be averted. She could just be a normal girl, albeit an adult girl who was stuck in her four year old self's body.

But she had fun with her friends and the `bonding `they did together. Willow and her went to go and see a movie she`d been too busy to see and then they on one of Buffy's favourites things to do in the day, shopping.

Willow and her also just spent time just talking with each other and spent the rest of the day having a picnic at the beach and then returning home to model all the outfits Buffy bought. Willow insisted that they take pictures of it just to document it, for scientific purposes only. Buffy wasn`t buying into that but agreed anyway because she was having fun with it.

Spending the day with Xander on the other hand was a unique and interesting experience. He took Buffy to work with him. She was mistaken for being his daughter and with alot of fumbling and stuttering of words everything was cleared up. She got a few whistles from the workers calling her cutie pie and sugar which made her blush a shade of crimson.

She wore one of those yellow hard hats that construction workers would wear, and yeah,you guessed it, it was huge. So huge infact that it made her look like a tortoise with a yellow , she gave the construction crew that Xander worked with quite a fun filled day filled with laughs and jokes about her tininess all day round.

But it wasn`t half bad at all. At lunch time Buffy was surprised to see that some of them actually had some really nice and decent food with them. They even shared their lunches with her. Later on in the day when Xander got off work they just hung out and read comic books, well more like Xander read comic books while Buffy just looked at the pictures.

One of the comics had a woman with long dark hair and dressed in a full length leather coat and a gun in her hand. She reminded Buffy of Faith somehow. Maybe it was the mysterious vigilantes' dark hair and her leather coat or her dark brown hair and alluring eyes that made her think of Faith. She shook her head out of those thoughts quickly.

She had to stop thinking of Faith like that. She was bad and evil and Buffy would never forgive her for what she had done to them. She just found it so hard to get along with her. She was the light and Faith was the darkness. They were never meant to exist together and maybe that's why they always fought with each other.

Somehow along the line Buffy ended up going with Xander and Anya on their date that was already planned and Xander had forgotten. So Buffy had to go with them. And she again got mistaken as Xander and now Anya's child. After that Anya started questioning Xander about him having illegitimate children out there somewhere. It made Buffy laugh uncontrollably when Xander was getting all these stares from people `for abandoning his illegitimate children' that didn`t exist. And she still had a great time with them.

Everyone ended up spending more than one day with Buffy and they did normal everyday things but made more fun out of it. Going to watch movies, going on picnics and hanging out at the beach. But now there was only about three days left and no one could stop Faith from spending time with Buffy.

Giles insisted that Faith get atleast gets one day with Buffy and he would take no excuses because everyone of them spent more than one day with her. And he also thought it would be a good idea for the both of them to spend time together.

They barely were in the same room long enough than five minutes and hardly said two words to each other since she arrived. It was always awkward and everyone else still seemed to be cautious around Faith because they still didn`t trust her.

Giles told Faith that she should spend the day with Buffy yesterday at the magic box but she became all jumpy and said she had patrol and something she had to do, and that she would let him know when she had time to spend the day with Buffy. He then reminded her that there was only a few days left and she shouldn`t take too long.

The thing was Faith was scared shitless to spend time with Buffy and she was nervous as hell. What the hell were they suppose to do together? Go to the park? Nah, too ordinary. Go and see a movie? No way thought Faith to herself, and then she had an idea. It took her atleast two days to organise everything she would need to have a fun day with Buffy.

She wasn`t sure if Buffy would like it and but she had put allot of effort into it and used all of her resources to plan the day which she would spend with Buffy. She just hoped she would like it.

Buffy woke up early the next day. It was at the butt crack of dawn. The sun didn`t even rise yet. She was filled with too much of nervous energy to sleep any longer. Today was day twenty and it was the day she and Faith would spend together. She wouldn`t tell Buffy what they were doing or where they were going but told her to be ready by noon.

Everybody had breakfast at Buffys house that morning and they all seemed to share Buffy's nervousness except for Tara and Dawn. They both liked Faith and Dawn idolised would be working all day and Willow and Tara would be out of town in LA and would only be back after six. They had some Wiccan meeting or convention thing to go to. Dawn was staying over at her friend Janice's house so nobody would be home.

"Okay Buffy, look, we`ll try to be home earlier and Xander said he`d try and get off work early so someone would be home just in case. I casted you that protection spell just in case you need it and then if you need,""Willow, please Buffy will be okay, "interrupted Tara, "just let Faith and Buffy have this one day, nothing bad will happen."But what if, "But Tara cut her off again saying,

"No, no what ifs,Faith knows that if she tried anything that Buffy's very powerful best friend who happens to be a witch would do really bad things to her, "then she paused to show she was joking and smiles and not trying to say Willow was come crazy person, "or turn her into a frog."Willow just smiled her Willowish smile that she reserved only for Tara. Things between them seemed to be getting better and she didn`t want to spoil it.

Buffy sighed heavily and said,"Well, I guess I`m going to just have to try and endure the torture I`m sure Faith will put me through. Hopefully the day will go by so fast and that I`ll be waking tomorrow and ready to be adult me again."Willow looked sympathetically at Buffy and said, "Well let's hope she doesn`t take you to some club or take you drinking as a way of having a good time because I will so kick her ass."said Willow with a serious face.

Buffy smiled slightly at her friends over protectiveness but she had a feeling that Faith wouldn`t do anything stupid to her. And anyways,they needed Faith for tomorrow night when she would have to fight that demon and get its horns for the spell to make her normal again.

She looked out the window of the kitchen. It was another Saturday and hopefully tomorrow would be her last day as a four year old, that is if she didn`t die from boredom or something violent today.

**Okay next chapter will be Buffy and Faiths day together and boy is it going to be long days filled with surprises that will make Buffy see Faith in a whole new light.**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don`t anything, ECT.

**Here`s chapter 8, hope you enjoy!**

**Please Review!**

Chapter 8

Buffy sat in the living room of her house with Willow and Tara who were going to leave after Buffy left. Willow looked more nervous than Buffy did, and it was as if though she was the one that had to spend the day with Faith.

Tara on the other hand smiled internally thinking that today would be a great day, maybe even a defining moment between the Chosen Two. It was just a feeling she had and the fact that Faith confided in her a few days ago about what she and Buffy would be doing made her believe it.

She knew how hard Faith planned and set up this day. She was quite surprised at the lengths Faith went through for Buffy and the surprise that she had for her later on. It was so sweet an unlike Faith, from according to what she's heard about the Dark Slayer.

Willow had nothing to worry about and Tara would`ve told her that, but she promised Faith that she wouldn`t tell anyone about what she had planned.

Buffy was swinging her legs back and forth, back and forth while sitting on the couch looking at the clothes she was wearing.

Faith had said she should just dress casually. And so there she was in a cute little blue jeans that had butterflies on the pants legs and a soft pink cotton t-shirt that read Princess in cursive with a crown over it.

She had a matching denim jacket to go with it, in case it got cold or if they were staying out longer. Which she hoped was not the case.

Her hair was pulled up into a simple pony tail and she looked like the epitome of four year old would be impossibly hard to say that this tiny little girl was a powerful Slayer, feared by all the dark creatures of the night.

But if you took the time to look deep into her eyes you would see all the horrors she had seen, and all the pain she had locked inside. You would not see the innocence of four year olds childs eyes but that of a grown woman who has seen many deaths and suffered much heartache and pain.

"Okay Buff, "said Willow taking a huge breath of air and exhaling, "you got our cell numbers right?"She asked looking at Buffy like she really was a four year old and a retarded one at that.

Buffy rolled her eyes at her best friend and nodded her head. She was still a grown up, and she didn`t need to be treated like a fricken child! `Urg! `she groaned internally.

Willow didn`t notice the small scowl on Buffy face so she carried on speaking."Okay so just try and have fun, well as much fun as whatever Faiths planning. Does she even know the meaning of fun??"And now she went into babble mode, "I mean, yeah, sure Faith knows how to `Find the fun' "she said making air quotes with her fingers as she said that, "as Faith would say, but Buffy is like a four year old now! She can`t take Buffy out clubbing and looking for someone to have her wicked way with. I mean come on!!Does she even know how to have good, clean and wholesome fun?!All she does is Slaying and getting a good fu-"Tara cut Willow off sensing that her girlfriend wouldn`t stop on her own.

"Willow, come on, let's just give Faith a chance. Maybe she trying to surprise her and you said you`d try and get along with her and so far all I`ve seen is you bad mouthing her. She really has changed.

And if you guys even tried to spend more than a few minutes with her instead of fleeing the room as soon as a meeting is done you would know that, "admonished Tara looking at the both off them but mostly at Willow.

Buffy was quiet and thinking about what Tara said. She didn`t want to admit but she too had noticed the slight changes in Faith. But she wasn`t sure she could trust her yet, and she knew she had good reasons not to.

Willow on the other hand felt like she did the first time Faith came into their felt threatened, like she was going to lose her friends to Faith again and especially Buffy and she wouldn`t let that happen again. But what could she do?

She wasn`t jealous of Faith or anything, she had Tara and didn`t have those kinds of feelings for Buffy, well...Maybe she did have a crush on her in high school and maybe that's why she was always so anti-Faith, but still!!Faith was bad, she was evil....

In Willows mind it sounded more like some kind of mantra that she was trying to convince herself of, that Faith didn`t deserve a second chance from her, but did she really give her a first chance?

But before she could answer her inner questions there was a knock at the door. They all looked up as Tara got up to answer it. They heard Tara's voice and an unmistakable raspy and slightly husky sounding voice at the door, who they knew was definitely Faith.

They heard some laughter coming from the two off them and decided it was time for them to make an appearance.

Buffy was the first one to see Faith. She had on a dark pair of washed out black jeans that fitted her in all the right places.' Bad Buffy!' she chastised herself for thinking about Faiths body like that. Because she wasn`t into girls and certainly not Faith.

She had on a white and grey t-shirt that looked like it had some kind of rock and roll band on it. It could have been heavy metal but Buffy didn`t know anything about any of those kinds of music bands.

She was dressed simply with her favourite black boots and her lucky leather jacket at her side. Her dark brunette curls blew slightly in the breeze as she stood in the doorway looking at Buffy and the others.

"Hey B,"rasped Faith looking at Buffy with some kind of emotion that Buffy couldn`t decipher and a half smile."Hey,"she said simply sighing dejectedly with slumped shoulders, and then she saw Faith looking a little disappointed at her greeting, but as soon as she saw that, it was gone.

"Are ya ready ta motoravate?"she asked standing more fully into the room. Buffy nodded her head and said,"Yeah, I am, so are you finally going to tell me where we`re going?"She asked stepping closer to Faith.

Faith just smirked at her and her eyes had a mischievous gleam in them now,"Nope, it's a surprise, "she said and Buffy began to pout unconsciously at her."You know I hate surprises!"she whined stomping her small white sneaker clad feet.

That stupid and very effective pout of Buffy's almost made Faith spill the beans but she wouldn`t. She was immune to the Buffy Summers pout.' To a certain degree...`she thought to herself.

"C`mon B, don`t be a whiny little brat, I promise ya, you`ll have fun, "she said and hoped she sounded confident enough because she was a nervous wreck on the inside."Fine!"She huffed annoyed that her pouting didn`t work on Faith and which made her feel slightly upset for some unknown reason.

They followed Faith to the drive way, where Tara and Willows car was Faiths Harley was parked off to the side."Okay well we`re off and we`ll see you later tonight Buffy, "said Tara with her usual warm smile giving the tiny Buffy a hug followed by Willow.

"Yeah, remember Buffy if you need anything just call and we`ll be back in a flash, "she said in her normal and bubbly Willow fashion.' Tara must have told her not to act so nutso infront of Faith,' thought Buffy to herself.

They waved goodbye to Tara and Willow and then Faith broke the silence and said,"Well,c`mon B,jump on!"she shouted sitting on her Harley."I`m not getting on that!!I might fall and break my neck!!"she shouted not moving from her position in the drive way.

"B! Please,I promise ya I won`t let you fall, "and then Buffy felt some of those weird fluttering things in her stomach again when she looked up into Faiths eyes and she just wanted it to stop. So she went to Faith who picked her up and put her infront.

"Wait, almost forgot your helmet, "she said and pulled out a helmet that would actually fit Buffy. But it looked like one of those funny kinds of helmets that pizza delivery guys wore on their scooters. And Buffy felt ridiculous and voiced her opinions about it.

"You did this on purpose didn`t you, "she said turning around to glare at Faith who just grinned at her.

She clipped the helmet in place and said, while fixing up Buffys hair around it and not realising she was doing it, "The guy at the store only had these kinds and they were the only ones that were small enough to fit your little noggin, "she said tapping the side of Buffy helmet.

Buffy swatted her hands away from the helmet, trying to hide the slight tint of pink covering her cheeks. She scowled at Faith, and then turned around waiting for her to start the bike.

Faith looked at her from the top of her head and sighed softly.' Buffy wasn`t going to make this easy for her' she thought.

When the bike roared to life Buffy out of instinct leaned into Faith and Faith couldn`t stop the smile that formed. She made sure Buffy was secure and used her legs to keep her in place.

' She smells nice,' thought Buffy as they took off. It was like cinnamon and something spicy and... fresh laundry? But there was just a smell that was just distinctly Faith.

It comforted her and made her feel safe and warm and it also scared her more than ever. She wasn`t supposed to be feeling like this with Faith.

Faith was the one who tried to kill her, her friends and family. She poisoned Angel and almost killed him, if Buffy hadn`t made him drink her blood he would have been nothing more than dust.

Yes she had stabbed Faith and put her into a coma for eight months but she was working for the Mayor! What was Buffy suppose to do?!Just let the love of her life die??

Sighing she turned her attention back to the road. She couldn`t see Faiths` face because her helmet was full black and she had tinted visors.

It looked like they were going near the docks but not any part that Buffy had ever seen before. She`d been living in Sunnydale for so long but she had never seen this place before.

You could hear the ships docking and hear the horns of the ships pulling into the harbour. But what surprised Buffy was how many people were walking around .There were all these small little shops and eating places around.

Children were skateboarding and doing stunts on the sidewalks. It was like it was another town hidden away in Sunnydale itself. It smelt like the ocean and had an almost calm atmosphere about it, and it was on a Hellmouth.

Faith pulled off and parked on the sidewalk and helped Buffy off the bike. Then Buffy asked her, "How did you find this place?"Faith paused for a minute thinking if she should tell Buffy or not but decides to anyway, "Well when I first came to SunnyD, and you guys were always in school in the week and I had nothing` ta do I`d wonder around town, and I found this place."

Buffy looked at Faith wondering what she was thinking. This place seemed to make Faith smile more than usual and she wanted to know why for some strange reason.

As they began to walk more Faith carried on speaking, "I liked this place was like it was my own little town where nobody else knew me and so they wouldn`t judge me, "Buffy wanted to say something but Faith didn`t let her and carried on speaking.

"I met this old dude. Name was Joey and he owned this little fast food restaurant/Diner named Maggies, after his wife and he offered me a job. "she paused for a few seconds then added," That`s also how I afforded to stay in that rat trap of a motel room. "She added as an afterthought. She sighed slightly and then Buffy said,

"Faith, I`m sorry, I –I didn`t know..." "Yeah, why would ya? It`s not like you asked me or anythin` or that I told ya.I didn`t have alot of money on me when I came to Sunnydale and the job wasn`t even half bad."

Buffy felt really guilty at that moment. None of them really even cared that Faith stayed at that dingy motel room or even asked her how she afforded to stay there. Her mother use to always ask her to find out how Faith was doing and told her that she should have asked Faith to stay with them till she found a better place to stay.

But Buffy wouldn`t hear of it because she didn`t want the dark Slayer anywhere near her or her family. She was being selfish and she knew it. But back then she was just a high school student who made many stupid mistakes and so did Faith.

But maybe they could finally have a clean slate? But could Buffy forgive her and let her back into their lives again??Her life again...

"Well here it is, "said Faith pointing at a really nice looking Diner that said Maggie's. It reminded Buffy of those Diners back in the seventies. There were picnic looking tables outside and nice red leather booths on the inside.

There were loud music and game sounds coming from what sounded like an arcade room. Faith saw that Buffy was trying to figure out where it was coming from.

She picked her up from around her waist taking Buffy off guard and getting a little yelping sound from her, and held her over the railing near the boardwalk they were on.

Buffy became stiff in Faith arms and she realised why."B,"she whispered softly near Buffy's ear giving her goosebumps,"I`m not going to throw ya` over if that's what ya` think, I'm just showing ya` where the arcade is, see, "she pointed at something under the boardwalk they were on.

There right under the pier was a cemented building with colourful lights and children coming in and out and the loud noises of a pinball machine and other video games in there.

After realising that Faith wasn`t going to throw her over the railings she relaxed and looked down.

It looked like fun, whatever was going on in there. Maybe they`d go in there later, thought Buffy to herself. Faith saw the longing look in Buffy's eyes and grinned inwardly. They were going to make a stop there later and she was happy that Buffy didn`t seem disappointed so far.

The day was only just beginning, and she was going to make sure that Buffy had the best day of her life.

Okay this is just the beginning so bare with me and I`ll update soon, because Faith has many things in store for Buffy. And this little town hidden away from others was just a little teaser. Trust me the good stuff will come very soon!!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own anything,ECT.

Sorry for taking so long to update had a busy week.

Please review and tell me what you think!

Chapter 9

Buffy and Faith sat inside Maggie's Diner and were currently finishing off their double cheese burgers and the world's best milkshakes this side of the coast, according to Faith. And Buffy had to agree that they were the best milkshakes she had ever had.

Joe met them earlier when they entered the diner. He was a really big guy, as in round and slightly hairy. He pulled Faith into a big bear hug when he saw her and Buffy was sure that if Faith wasn`t a Slayer the guy would`ve broke some of her ribs.

His eyes lit up when he saw Faith enter the diner and Buffy had never seen anyone that happy to see Faith before. It made her feel that strange warm feeling in the pit of her stomach. She was happy that Faith had someone like that, that cared for her and then she realised that she really didn`t know Faith as well as she thought she did.

"Please ya just missed me cause I was the best bust boy ya had, well girl, `cause how could you think all of this, "she gestured to herself, "was a guy."She smirked at Joe who just shook his head and smiled warmly at her like a father would when seeing his daughter after a very long time.

"Well you would`ve been the best bust boy I had if you didn`t eat all the food, "he smiled at her in a playful manner. Then Faith just smirked at him and rolled her eyes."I have a big appetite, `okay."She said crossing her arms pretending to be hurt.

"C'mon, I was just messin` wit ya kid, "but Faith wasn`t budging and was milking the situation for all that it was worth."Okay, how about food on the house?"He asked with a slow smile creeping onto his face when he saw Faith trying to hide a smile and nodded her head.

Before he left she said,"Oh, man!! J man, this is B, well Buffy for short no pun intended, "she said looking at Buffy quickly to make sure she didn`t blow a gasket," and I brought her here to have the best meal of her tiny life. "She said grinning with a twinkle in her eye and looking again at Buffy who was standing by her leg.

"Oooh, she really is a tiny one, you think she'll finish her cheese burger and milkshake by herself?"He asked slightly bending down to look at Buffy.

"Okay one, she might finish it, I dunno,"she shrugged at that, "Two and this is really . .."She said seriously staring into Joes eyes.

"Huh?"He said confused and scratched his head standing back up. She could feel Buffy shaking slightly next to her in anger. She just looked at him with the most serious expression she had and said, "She bites."

Joes eyes practically bulged out of his head comically and he looked like he was about to break out into a sweat."Oh...Well then I sorry young lady. Faith I`ll be bringing you girls your food in a few minutes. You just sit where ever you like."

And with that he took off like he was never there."Man for a big guy he sure can move fast, "said Faith chuckling as she sat down in a booth near a window with Buffy sitting opposite of her.

She put her boots up on the seat Buffy was sitting on and Buffy pulled a face and kicked them off."Gross Faith we`re going to eat here, "she whined and Faith reluctantly pulled her feet down.

"Whatever, "she said, "anyway you don`t mind that I ordered for ya already?' Cause I knew what was good so,"

"Faith it`s okay, I trust you ..."Said Buffy. Faith felt like the air was knocked out of her. Buffy trusted her?!

Buffy quickly realising what she said, explained what she really meant, "I mean you use to work here before so you know what`s good, so I trust your food choices..."she trailed off leaving them in an uncomfortable silence and Faith feeling her stomach sink.

She made sure not to let her disappointment be seen on her face."It's all five by five, B."She said grinning her usual nonchalant smile.

Buffy on the other hand didn`t miss the disappointed look that crossed her face and she felt like scum for making her feel that way. But she couldn`t just let Faith back into her life like that, she couldn`t trust her.

Well not yet anyways.

So here they were now with Faith finished with her food and Buffy struggling to finish hers. She was only a four year old now, and it was difficult for her to eat all the food they had ordered.

And the fact that she has a really tiny mouth and even smaller stomach also made it hard for her to finish.

Faith decided to help her finish by eating some of her fries while casually looking out of the window. Buffy was grateful that Faith didn`t come up with some more jokes at her inability to finish her own food.

And when they were done she thought she would have exploded out of her jeans from being so stuffed."Ooh,"I`m so full, I don`t think I can even walk, "she groaned clutching her stomach as Faith threw a few bills on the table.

"You are such a drama queen, "said Faith rolling her eyes."I am not! You try eating an entire burger at four years old and see how you feel. I feel like I`m going to explode!!Or even throw up."

Rolling her eyes once more she scooped Buffy up into her arms earning her a surprised yelp once again from her. They proceeded out of the diner once Faith said goodbye to Joe promising to return in the near future.

"Don`t ya dare throw up on me. This is my favourite leather jacket. "She said and continued to walk until they reached a wooden staircase going under the pier.

As they walked more, well as Faith walked more Buffy heard the sounds of an arcade and her eyes lit up. Faith saw this from the corner of her eye and grinned inwardly.

"Told ya I`d bring you here twinkie, "she said putting Buffy down so she could walk the rest of the way. Suddenly Buffy sprinted her way to the arcade room and left Faith there gaping like a fish out of water.

`That little brat made her carry her all the way down and she was just fine!!`She glared at the tiny little blondes back as she jogged after her.

Surprisingly to the both of them they had a great time together. They played all the games once each and they even somehow managed to play air hockey with Buffy standing on a crate. It caused a few laughs but overall Buffy was having a good time.

They spent two hours in the arcade room but before they could leave Faith wanted to do one more thing with Buffy.

"Okay, we will have the educational part of the bonding experience. "she said looking at Buffy with the utmost seriousness. Buffy scrunched her cute little eyebrows in confusion and uttered an intelligent,"Huh?"

"I`m gonna take ya driving, "and smirked when Buffy eyes lit up."Seriously!!You going to let me drive a car?!"She started jumping up and down."Whoah, slow down a real car you spaz."Then she led her to a car racing game with a chair and gears and everything that was in a real car.

"But ya gonna hafta sit in my lap, cause ya legs are too short to reach the gears."Buffy huffed protesting that she could handle it but she knew she wouldn`t reach the brakes or clutch with her tiny legs.

So fifteen minutes later an extremely concentrated Buffy was in Faiths lap. She had her tongue stuck out in the corner of her mouth in deep concentration while steering, and the brunette who looked like she was just in shock as she sat there looking at the screen.

"Faith stop pressing the brakes!!"Shouted Buffy for the almost fiftieth time."You making me slow down!!"She shouted frantically elbowing Faith in the stomach.

Faith looked slightly pale even though it was just a game Buffys driving skills were insane!

"Buffy!!You have to slow down!!Yeah it`s a race but the point of it is not to kill anyone. You frickin killed an old lady who was just crossing the street and that cow about a mile back!!"She regretted bringing Buffy to this game.

Everytime she killed someone blood would slash the screen then disappear. It was making her feel slightly nauseous and she had seen some pretty messed up things. But Buffy driving takes the cake.

"That old lady walked when it was a green light for me to go!!And that stupid cow was moving too slowly, so I couldn`t swerve out of the way!!"She shouted loudly, because now apparently Buffy had the cops chasing her.

`What?!How the fuck did that happen!!`Swore Faith internally looking at Buffy wide eyed."Step on it!!"She cried out like a banshee to Faith. To shocked at Buffy she just floored it and Buffy was just mowing down all those mail boxes and fruit stalls like nobody's business.

When the game ended Faith sighed with relief while Buffy pouted furiously hitting the steering wheel. The screen said, `You can`t drive to save your life. Game over LOSER. `

"The game cheated! Faith I want to play again!!"Shouted Buffy turning around to look at Faith who she realised looked slightly pale."Are you alright?"

"Yeah I`m fine, err...But we have to leave now so I can show you some other things around here," she said getting up.

Buffy reluctantly joined her and they walked out of the arcade, their ears still buzzing from the noise of the machines.

Buffy thought that they were going to go back up onto the pier but Faith kept on walking and it looked like they were nearing some kind of marine facility. Marine as in sea life facility where they kept all kinds of different sea animals in tanks.

Faith wasn`t saying anything and Buffy just frowned more."Well here we are, "said Faith stopping infront of a white door."C`mon, I`ll carry ya.I know you`ll jump on me the minute we enter anyways", and opened her arms for Buffy.

Rolling her eyes she allowed Faith to pick her up."I don`t even know what is behind that door, but it better not be anything gross, "she said pulling a face. Faith just grinned at her and opened the door.

The first thing that assaulted Buffy was a fishy smell and a salty sea breeze."You brought me to a fishery?!"Asked Buffy incredulously. Shaking her head at the tiny little blondes deduction and was about to respond to her snooty behaviour but was engulfed into a hug by a blur of dark brown hair.

"Faith, "said an excited female voice. Buffy was caught in the middle of the hug, seeing as she was in Faiths arms. She started to poke at the person who was currently hugging Faith like a bloody life line.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn`t hurt you did I?!" said the girl with brown hair and dark blue eyes. Buffy noticed that she was very pretty and she was just wearing a plain pair of black shorts and a black sports bra. Her hair was also just pulled up into a simple ponytail.

"Hey Nicole, what`s happenin`girlfriend?"She asked nonchalantly. She punched Faith in the arm looking at her like she had grown two heads."How's it going?!I haven`t seen you in almost two years Faith!!"She shouted her voice echoing around the room.

An uncomfortable atmosphere settled around them. After a minute of silence Faith decides to speak up and looks at Nicole."Things happened and I, er...-I couldn`t handle it. I had to leave...""Why didn`t you come to me?"She asked hurt evident in her voice and Buffy wondered how close the two were.

"I know and I`m sorry but I didn't want to drag you into my shit...."she trailed off not wanting to look into her friends eyes. Suddenly she`s taken into a half hug this time not squishing Buffy. But Buffy quickly slipped out of Faiths arms so the two could hug properly.

`I didn`t know Faith was a hugger,' thought Buffy to herself bitterly for some strange reason. She watched the two brunettes hug and saw the guilt on Faiths face. The hug was lasting longer than a normal friendly hug was supposed to last.

Buffy felt strangely angry at the other brunette for hugging Faith for so long but just shrugged it off because she almost squeezed Buffy to death earlier. When they separated Faith looked at Buffy and said,"Nicole, this is Buffy, Buffy this is Nicole."

"Whoa! Buffy, as in Buffy Summers?!"She asked wide eyed."Yep,"nodded Faith with a sly grin."I know you said she was short but damn!!...What the hell!!"She screamed as Buffy latched onto her leg attempting to bite her.

Thankfully Faith got to her before she could."Nicks, she`s four years old, woman "she rolled her eyes at the other brunette," some messed up demon thing turned her into her four year old self."Nicole stood there for a moment and then it dawned on her."Oh"she said slowly now looking at Buffy more closely.

"Nicole knows about slayers and vampires and demons. I saved her one night from two of `em when I first came to Sunnyhell,"she shrugged like it was no big deal. Nicole just nodded not looking at all surprised at what she was hearing or freaking out.

"Yeah, well anyways,"said Faith breaking the silence, "I wanted to show B the stuff that was here and maybe she can feed Sam?"She asked unsurely.

"Of course you can and I think Sam will be excited to see you after such a long time. "Said Nicole leading them towards another room."Okay you guys can go through, Faith you know the way but I unfortunately can`t stay. I gotta go and get some more supplies."

Faith nodded at her and then she turned and started to walk away, but before Nicole left, she called out, "Don't be a stranger, come and visit us soon Little Mermaid!"She smirked and took off.

Faith glared daggers at her retreating back. Buffy looked up at her with curious eyes."Just shut it B,`cause I aint gonna tell ya."Before Buffy could argue with her, they entered a huge room that looked like it was an underground aquarium.

"Wow..."was all Buffy could say. The room had glass walls all over and you could see every single fish there was in it. There were some colourful and oddly shaped fish and of course crabs and under water snails.

"Is that a frickin` Octopus?!"Shrieked Buffy."Ssshh!!B, this room is made of glass we can`t afford you cracking it."Buffy just scowled at her and looked at all the different kinds of fish instead.

She had her face pressed up against the fish tank and Faith couldn`t help but take a metal picture of it. Buffy Summers was definitely one cute four year old.

She jumped back onto Faiths leg when a sea turtle passed her unexpectedly, which made Faith laugh."C`mon I want to introduce you to Sam. "she said leading Buffy outside the building where there was a small pool with rocks.

Buffy heard splashing sounds and looked at Faith who was grinning down at her. Suddenly Buffy was tackled to the ground by a slimy black seal making its excited seal calls.

She started to shout, "Faith!!Help!!It`s trying to kill me!!"Faith started to laugh at Buffy because she just slipped and didn`t even get tackled by the over excited seal, and she beckoned the seal over to her.

"Hey Sammy!!Ya missed me girl??"She asked the excited baby but now adult seal, who was bobbing her head up and down at Faith. Buffy finally got up and latched herself to Faiths leg."You brought me here just so I can get mauled to death by a SEAL?!"She asked incredulously.

"No, and stop being so uptight, Sam would never even hurt a fly. Right girl?"the seal bobbed it`s head again and Faith tossed her a ball which she bounced on her nose and tossed it back to Faith.

They tossed it back and forth and Buffy suddenly wanted to do it.

It just looked like so much of fun. She ended up playing with the seal for atleast ten minutes like they were old friends. Giggling and laughing could be heard from Buffy and Faith felt like she had done the right thing by bringing Buffy here.

But they had to leave, because it was already four o`clock and they had to make it to another destination which Faith hoped would surprise Buffy even more.

After Buffy begrudgingly said good-bye to Sam and with Faith promising to her that when she was turned back they would visit Sam again. They had unconsciously made plans with each other not even realising it.

Tara was right, something monumental was happening between the two but it had not yet happened but at their next destination it would be seen but only to those who could witness magic.

As they rode on Faiths Harley thinking about the afternoon they had spent together with no arguments and fighting, they both felt this sense of calm wash over them and they both started to enjoy each other's company.

Buffy leaned more in Faith as she rode off to their next destination. Buffy used Faith for warmth and watched as the sky changed colour to an orange and blue hue. It was beautiful and they both couldn`t help but feel content at the sight.

They were now more in town but in an open field area where it looked like a carnival was set up.' Faith was bringing her to a carnival?' she thought to herself intrigued.' It was so unfaith like.`

Faith saw the look in Buffy eyes and shrugged in a nonchalant way and said, "I thought it would be fun yo, and well I`ve never been to one so I decided to see what all the hoo-ha was `bout. "She said putting her helmet down on the bike.

Buffy was surprised that Faith told her that. She had never spoken to any of them about her past before but she seemed to be opening up to Buffy, even though it was only a little.

She remembered going to one back when her parents were still together and how much it sucked because they were always fighting over something back then.

Faith saw the look in Buffy's eyes and thought that it was a bad idea, she shouldn`t have brought her here. She shook her head and got ready to get on her bike, when Buffy looked at her frowning and confused."What are you doing?"She asked.

"Well, err, ya don`t seem like ya want to be here so we can just skip it, it's okay," "No, "she cut Faith off, "it's not that. I just had a bad time the last time I was at one of these."Faith breathed out in relief. She almost thought she ruined the day by bringing Buffy here.

"Don`t worry B,I `ll make sure this one is way more fun, and who knows "she said smirking, "maybe I' even win ya one of those crappy little bears, "she winked at her and walked off with Buffy trailing after her.

`Maybe I should have just told her this was a bad idea,` thought Buffy to herself as she tried to catch up with Faith who was buying two tickets for them. But little did Buffy and Faith know that this night would be a night both of them would always remember.

Next update will be !!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, ECT

Chapter 10

The sun was about to set and the sky was a blazing orange and red. Faith and Buffy were walking side by side in the carnival, and both of them had cotton candy in their hands.

Buffy's was naturally pink and Faiths was a blue one. The rides were now being turned on because nightfall was about to come and the carnival became even more alive crowded than before.

So they stuck together, in case they got separated, well mostly because Buffy could get lost as she was so small."Faith!!"She shouted tugging at Faith jeans.

She looked down at Buffy, her cotton candy now gone but Buffy still having some left and quirked a questioning eyebrow at her, "What's up?"She asked smirking.

Getting an eye roll in return, she said, "Can we go on the roller coaster please!!"Faith sighed and said,"B, they won`t allow you your four years old now."Buffy just looked down disappointed and sighed heavily.

She always wanted to go on the roller coaster but something was always stopping her. Last time it was her parents and the fact that they weren`t even there long enough for her to get a chance to ride the roller coaster of death.

Faith felt like shooting herself in the head. How could she just tell Buffy she couldn`t go on the ride.' Stupid idiot,' she mentally chastised herself.

' I'll get her on that ride if it`s the last thing I do' she thought determinedly.

As they walked around a bit and played a few games Faith put her plan into action. She pulled Buffy behind a stall and bent down so they were eye level.

"I got a plan to get ya on that roller coaster B,"she said with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Wha??Faith you're not going to do anything illegal are you??"She asked hesitantly looking around nervously.

"Of course not, "she smirked at the nervous little blonde, "but we are going to break a few rules."

"Oh, man!"she said dramatically," I know I`m going to regret this but what are you planning?"She asked with cute frown, and again Faith just wanted to reach out and smooth it away.

"Well actually it`s quite simple. I'm going to hide you in my leather jacket."Buffy just looked at her with a blank expression on her face.

"Are you serious?"She asked with still no expression on her face."B I am serious, plus have you seen yourself? You`d just look like a tiny bump and maybe make me look around six months or so pregnant. But I guess I`ll just have to suffer through the embarrassment for ya."

She said sighing heavily like it was taking a lot out of her to be doing this for Buffy.

But secretly she would`ve done anything to just make Buffy happy again."C`mon B just get in and don`t make any sudden movements because people will start to think I`m carrying some kind of alien inside of me."

Buffy just nodded not really knowing what to say but also really wanting to go on that roller coaster. Faith didn`t even realise how small Buffy was until she burrowed herself into her.

Faith just kept her hands under Buffy so she wouldn`t slip out and blow their cover and it made it look more realistic.

She grumbled and mumbled profanities because she felt ridiculous suddenly sporting a medium sized bump on her stomach."The things I do for the little midget."

That comment got her an elbow to the stomach from Buffy and it made her look like she was really pregnant. But Faith pinched her back just smirking at passerby`s when she heard Buffy whimper.

"Be a good baby and stop kicking mama, "she said to her belly out loud.

She felt Buffy groan against her and heard her whisper, "This may be embarrassing for you but imagine how humiliated I feel!!I have to pretend to be an unborn foetus just so I can ride a roller coaster!!"She whispered harshly.

"Shut it, "said Faith fake smiling at the people who were staring at her, "we here."And after being allowed to pass and go on the roller coaster Faith breathed a sigh of relief. The guy in charge was such a sleaze.

Even though Faith wasn`t technically pregnant, he was coming onto her like a bad rash. Flirting and giving her lame pick up lines, and it was enough to make her feel real morning sickness.

When Buffy was sat once again in Faiths lap in the back of the roller coaster because she would fall out if she sat on her own seat, she whispered to Faith,

"That guy was such a scum bag, "she said, "couldn't he see you were pregnant?"she asked disgusted at the greasy looking guy that was hitting on Faith.

"Yeah well what can I do? I'm a hot chick, even when I`m pregnant. "She smirked cockily at Buffy wiggling her eyebrows. Buffy just punched her in the shoulder while smirking back. Then the ride started and Buffy was all screams and laughter.

When it was all over Faith walked away from it like she wasn`t even on one of the faster roller coasters she's ever been on.

Buffy on the other hand seemed to have lost her ponytail and her hair was all over the place.

She was walking with wobbly legs and glazed over eyes."..Awesome!!"She shouted like a giddy four years old would and Faith started to realise that the spell was slowly getting rid of adult Buffy and four year old Buffy was taking her place.

But luckily tomorrow night everything would be back to normal."Um...B? Did ya see ya hair??You look like firkin Bob Marley, man!!"She busted out into laughter while Buffy just stood there giving her a blank look.

After getting over her laughing fit she approached Buffy and bent down running her fingers through soft and silky and slightly short blonde hair. Buffy sighed and closed her eyes at the warm contact. Faith running her fingers through her hair made her feels so calm and peaceful.

She felt safe.

At that thought her eyes snapped open and she stepped back slightly from Faith and her intoxicating smell that was now reaching her.

The cool night's breeze carried Faiths scent to her. Roses and that mixture of leather and something else, something spicy, maybe cinnamon?

It was nightfall and you could see the stars tonight which were a rare sight in Sunnydale .Faith thought that maybe it was a sign that the night would turn out good and in her favour. She really hoped so.

It was already eight o`clock and Faith wanted to do one more thing. It was a cliché but if you didn`t do it, then what was the point of going to a carnival.

She went up to the man who was in charge of the booth. He had a bunch of big and heavy bowling pins that were set up.

Faith smirked internally because she realised this was how he got people to keep on playing and his prizes on the counters seemed ancient.

He smiled when he saw Faith and she bought three balls which she knew she wouldn`t need, but just to amuse herself. Buffy stood at her side also smiling knowingly because that guy was about to fork over a prize to someone for the first time in a very long time.

She wound up her arm and threw the ball hard but not too hard or it would look too suspicious. The greying old man behind the booth just looked at Faith wide eyed and stunned. How did she manage that?!And in one throw?!

He was surprised and shocked and so were a few other people that were waiting for their turn. She just smirked at the man and before Buffy could choose any prize Faith pointed out to one in the back.

She hid it behind her back so Buffy wouldn`t see. When they were a good distance away from the booth Faith bent down and said with a strange twinkle in her eye, "I thought ya know, maybe could use a Mrs..."She trailed of and presented Buffy with the cutest stuffed pig she had ever seen.

The pig was in a princess gown and had a small tiara on."Thought he deserved someone of royalty, ya know` cause he was always there ta protect you from the boogie monsters when ya were little..."She said making sure not to make eye contact with Buffy as she said this.

Buffy didn`t know what to say. She was in shock and touched at Faiths words. Faith still seemed to be surprising Buffy even more as the night went on.

"I don`t know what to say? I-I...err...This was really sweet of you Faith, "she said hugging her stuffed princess pig closer to herself. Faith thanked her lucky stars that it was dark and dimly lit where they stood.

Because if Buffy saw the bad-ass Slayer blush she wouldn`t hear the end of it."It was nothin` B,"said Faith shrugging in a nonchalant way and then she stood up stretching a little and said, "So do ya want to do anything` else `fore we leave? It is getting kinda late."

Buffy looked up at Faith and thought about it. Many thoughts were running through her mind and it was just all so confusing.

"You won me a prize, so I want to win you one, "she said standing up straighter with a determined look on her face.

Faith just smiled at her with amusement."No offence B but, I don't think ya can win me any prizes around here. You saw that guy had the game rigged."

"I don`t care, I`ll show you I can win a prize, "and she started to walk off to find the perfect game for her play.

Faith just shook her head and followed Buffy. She was very stubborn, and if she wanted to do something then she was going to do it.

Buffy chose a game which had you shoot at a target and as expected she was doing badly.

Already two failed attempts and she was one failure away from throwing a fit. Discreetly when Buffy wasn`t looking Faith called the guy behind the booth over.

He was just a pimpled faced teenager. She gave him a twenty and told him to make the target move slower so Buffy could win a prize.

He agreed because half the prizes there weren`t even worth as much as twenty bucks. When Buffy finally hit a target she did her victory dance that made a few people laugh. She decided to give Faith a Seal.

It was strange that there was such a stuffed toy there and it made Buffy wonder if it really was a coincidence or not. Faiths eyes lit up when she saw the seal Buffy chose for her.

It was kind of sentimental for her. She had a similar stuffed toy like that when she was younger but it got destroyed.

"Thanks, looks just like Sammy, "she squeezed the seal and it made a loud squeaking noise that `cause both Faith and Buffy to burst out into laughter.

"Damn B!!This thing can really scare the shit out of someone. Ya thinkin` what I`m thinkin`?"She asked wiggling her eyebrows,and grinning mischievously at Buffy.

Buffy couldn`t help but smile back and nod.

Together they said,"Xander..."and both started to giggle at the image of him screaming in his `manish`voice, as he would put it.

Suddenly Buffy yawned and Faith looked at her watch. It was almost eight o`clock."Are ya tired?"she asked. Buffy nodded with another yawn and snuggled into the pig she was holding closing her eyes.

"Well if ya are too tired, then I guess I can`t take ya to the surprise I had for ya tonight, "she said pretending like she wasn`t baiting the little blonde.

Buffys eyes opened up at that."You have a surprise for me? What kind??Is it here, or is it somewhere else? Oooh is it at another place I didn`t know existed?!"She babbled excitedly."Damn B, Reds babbling has rubbed off on ya."She chuckled at the pout that was forming on Buffy's face.

"C'mon, "she said holding her hand out to Buffy, "let's get outta here..."

So once again they took off to another destination and the last thing to do on their day of bonding. This was a surprise that Faith had worked hard to set up.

A lot of time and man power was used. Mostly Slayer strength helped her but even if she wasn`t a Slayer she would`ve still done it.

She brought Buffy to the docks and Buffy recognised this area because this was where they fought once before, when Faith was working for the Mayor.

Faith felt Buffy stiffen and tried to relax her by saying,"Chill,your surprise is in that building over there, "she pointed out to Buffy.

"I hope you`ll like it, "she said shyly almost timidly which made Buffy's head snapped up to look at her almost giving herself whiplash and toppling over the bike.

Luckily Faith was there to catch her."Whoah, there speedy, "she laughed, "let's go."She helped Buffy off her bike and helped her get the princess pig, because she didn`t want to leave it alone with the bike, and insisted Faith bring hers too.

Rolling her eyes at Buffy childish request although a sweet one she sighed. Buffy said that a vampire would steal them and Faith replied,"Yeah? What kind of retarded vampire would try and steal a frickin stuffed pig ?!"She asked incredulously

Suddenly a vampire appears out of nowhere but Faith could tell it was a newbie and he lunged for Buffy and more specifically her stuffed pig.

Faith pulled him back and gave him one or two punches before driving the stake home turning him into dust in a matter of seconds.

She was at Buffy's side in seconds inspecting her frantically thinking the vampire could`ve already hurt her. Buffy was both amused and touched at her concern and the weird butterflies in her stomach started to return again.

She decided to break her confusing feelings she was having about Faith by saying," See I told you, vampires would try and steal my pig."She smirked triumphantly and it broke Faith out of her search for cuts and bruises on Buffy.

"Err...yeah,"she said looking a bit embarrassed at having searched all over the tiny Buffy form for cuts and bruises. Then she got excited and said, "C'mon twinkie,we`re wasting time, but you have to cover your eyes."

And with that she scooped Buffy up and got an excited yelp instead of a scared one and walked towards the surprise.

Buffy heard a metal door open and felt them walking in after the door was shut. One thing she could tell was that wherever they were it was cold. Faith bent down on her knee and set Buffy down and slowly removed her hands.

What Buffy saw made her eyes fill with unshed tears.

It...Was breathtaking. An ice rink stood before her in an empty warehouse with beautiful white Christmas lights surrounding it making it look like something out of a fairytale.

When she turned around to look at Faith whose smile immediately fall when she saw the unshed tears in Buffy's eyes."B...Buffy? Are you okay, I didn`t mean to make you cry I just thought, "but before she could finish her sentence Buffy launched herself into Faiths arms.

Buffy sniffed slightly and said, "This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me, ever.I can`t believe it, how did you do manage to do this?!"She gestured to the ice rink.

"It`s just so amazing and...I`m sorry but it`s so unlike you..."She gazed up into Faiths eyes and was shocked to find so many emotions in them.

Guilt , regret, sadness but happiness as well, warmth and love...It was overwhelming and she blinked away the unshed tears.

Faith sensing that things were getting too intense brought out a pair of tiny ice skates. When Buffy's eyes lit up once more when she saw the ice skates, Faith promised herself that she would do about just anything ,to see her eyes light up like that all the time.

She put on her skates and saw Faith just sitting there watching her."You're not going to skate with me?"She asked confused. Faith shook her head and said,"Nah,I`m not that into skating and I`d rather watch wat ya got, "she said smiling widely at Buffy.

Buffy skated towards her and said, "Please skate with me, "and gave her the famous Buffy Summers pout."It aint gonna work B,"said Faith looking around the ice rink with an unaffected look.

Buffy didn`t say anything and just continued to pout and added the puppy dog eyes to it when Faith seemed to be resisting the pout. It was a killer combination and a fight Faith felt she was losing.

When the puppy dog eyes were brought out she just crumbled on the inside.`But I`m a fuckin Slayer!!`she shouted to herself.

No way was she going to give in. Then she made eye contact with Buffy and she was a goner."Fine!!"She huffed half pouting herself from losing to Buffy's stupid pouting and puppy dog eyes power.

She finally got on a pair of black ice-skates and was on the ice making circles around Buffy."I didn`t know you could skate, "said Buffy in awe when she saw Faith do a 360` axel spin and landed back spraying Buffy with ice shavings in her face.

She smirked at Buffy who was rubbing away the ice from her hair and said, "Hello, I`m from Boston. It`s always snowin` an shit there, so I learnt how ta skate..."She didn`t elaborate or carry on the story of how she learned to ice-skate but Buffy didn`t want to push her.

For the first time in her life she could really genuinely say that she was having fun with Faith and that she really missed her. She stopped skating when she thought that.

She missed her?

Yes.

It was a simple answer but with them nothing was ever that simple. They were either fighting or trying to kill each other. But could things be different this time?

Could they be friends like they were suppose to be? Buffy wanted that. To be friends with Faith and get to know her better this time even get her to open up to her a little.

She smiled thinking about the really fun day they had together. It was the most fun Buffy had, had in a very, very long time. She hadn`t smiled or laughed like that since she was brought back to life.

"Yo, B ya spaced out there for a minute, is everythin` okay?"She asked worried that something was wrong with Buffy.

She smiled at Faith with such warmth that Faith thought the cold from the ice-rink was messing with her head.

Buffy had never smiled that smile at her before. It was always reserved for her family and friends. And Angel.

"I`m fine, "she said still smiling at Faith that same smile, "I was just thinking about our day together. It....was surprising. It was also really the most fun I had and we weren`t even jumping down each other's throats or trying to kill each other."

Faith smiled at her and said, "I wouldn`t have hurt right now, ya just too cute, "she said in a baby's voice now making light of the situation. She pinched Buffy's cheeks and Buffy slapped her hands away.

"You and Dawn are so gonna get it when I`m back to my normal self. I`m not some toy you can pinch and `coo` at, "she crossed her arms and frowned."Oh I`m so scared, "said Faith in an exaggeratedly scared voice while smirking.

Buffy did not find it funny and continued to frown with her with arms crossed and not looking at Faith.`Oh shit,she does look really mad at me,' thought Faith to herself and decided to do the first thing that popped into her head.

She attacked Buffy...By tickling her ...

"No...Fair...!"She shouted between fits of giggles and laughter. Faith was tickling her in her most ticklish spots. That was really evil of her.

"Faith....Stop!!I`m...gonna pee my...pants...."she panted. After a little more tickling Faith stopped.

Buffy wiped away the tears that came out of her eyes from all the laughing and glared at Faith, then the glare turned into a full blown smile.

Faith pulled Buffy into a sudden hug. They both froze at the contact, but Faith especially. She was surprised at her own actions. But when Buffy tightened her arms around her she felt all her worries fly out of the windows.

She relaxed into the hug and so did Buffy."Thank you Faith, "whispered Buffy into Faiths ear.

In that moment a warm glow engulfed the two of them bathing them in a mystical energy. If they had the ability to see magical auras they would have seen the gold light that surrounded them.

They both felt a wave of relief flow over them. It was like a weight that was lifted off their shoulders. Yet they would never know that they helped each other out in ways they would never know.

"Let's get you home B,"said Faith her voice sounding slightly husky from the emotions she was trying to hold in.

"Yeah, let's go home..."she said her voice echoing the true meaning of her words. Leaning her head against Faith shoulder she sighed in content.

Faith took off her shoes and put her sneakers back on for her. They walked back to her Harley in a comfortable silence. The drive back to the Summers residence was a bitter sweet one.

They both didn`t want their time together to end and could only wish for this night to never end. It was strange but it felt so right.

The night is not over yet. So stayed tuned.

Please Review.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Ok in Chapter 10 when Faith gives Buffy the pig princess and says she thought she could use a Mrs, it was for .The bloody word just kept on disappearing.

: [SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE!!

Chapter 11

When Faith pulled up to the driveway the lights were all still off in the Summers home, so nobody was home yet.

Buffy smiled internally at that and decided to ask Faith to come in for a while."Are ya sure?"She asked hesitantly not knowing if Buffy was being genuine or not.

"Yeah,"she said smiling and leading Faith to the front door. Faith opened the door for Buffy as she was obviously too short to reach the key hole and switched on the lights. As they neared the stairs Buffy couldn`t help the yawn that escaped her lips.

"B, I think ya need to get in look ready ta drop any minute."Said Faith looking at Buffy who was half way up the stairs."No, I'm, "another yawn escaped, "I'm fine. Not tired yet."

She followed her into her room and did a double take.' How the fuck did she get changed into her PJs so fast?!`Thought Faith with slightly wide eyes. Buffy didn`t notice the look that Faith was giving her, too busy introducing to her new princess pig to Mr Gordo.

`Damn she really is turning into a four year old. ` Thought Faith to herself getting lost in thought while watching Buffy.

"Faaiith!!Heelllooo??"She said waving a hand infront of Faith who snapped out of her thoughts."What?"She asked frowning.

"I said, will you tell me a story??"Said Buffy looking at Faith with hopeful eyes. Faith felt like a deer caught in the head lights. Quickly trying to get out of the situation she said, "I don`t know any kid stories and even if I did, why the heck do you want me to read you one?!You're a frickin` twenty two year old Slayer for god sakes!!"

"Twenty-three but thanks for thinking I look younger though, even if it's by only one year "said Buffy with a wry smile and then rolled her eyes when Faith still had the deer in the headlights look.

"You don`t have to be a kid to have a story read to you before you sleep, but I`m only asking because I`m still not sleepy and maybe a story would help me to fall asleep."

Sighing heavily Faith sat down next to Buffy on her bed and ran a hand through her hair. A nervous habit that Buffy picked up about her.

"Look B I don`t really know any kiddie stories. I know bits and pieces, like the three little pigs and then some wolf and then red ridin` hood and a wolf...Yeah, so I wasn`t into it when I was a kid,not that anyone read to me or anythin`."She mumbled the last part under her breath.

She was playing with her leather jacket zip while Buffy just sat there and looked at her. Deciding not to push Faith for more information about what she just heard or making the situation awkward she smiled her famous half smile that won over many people and said, "So then just make up one."

`I think Buffy's trying to kill me,' thought Faith to herself.' It aint fair, she can`t just use the cute half smile thing and expect me to give in.....Shit now she`s fuckin poutin too!!!What a bitch!!`Rolling her eyes at Buffy's immaturity she sighed heavily.

"Fine but it`s my story so no interruptin` or anythin` and remember I`m gonna just have to pull this one outta my ass,"she said grinning when Buffy pulled a face at what she said.

She tucked Buffy into bed and gave her the Princess pig and on each side and pulled a chair out to sit beside the bed.

Buffy was just looking at her a bit shocked. Very shocked. The way she tucked her in and gave her the stuffed animals, it was like she had been doing it her whole life.

Faith was too busy trying to get comfortable in her chair to notice Buffy stunned look but when she looked up again Buffy was waiting in attentiveness.

`Stupid tiny blonde, getting` me ta do things with half smiles and pouts and we aint even friends!!`

Meanwhile, while the two of them were settling upstairs and getting ready for Faiths story, the front door to the Summers residence , Tara and Xander both arrived back at the same time and greeted each other while entering.

"Well the lights are on so that means Buffs home, "said Xander taking off his jacket and hanging it on the coat rack.

"Yeah, but it's really quiet, "said Willow narrowing her eyes suspiciously, "too quiet."Tara had to refrain from rolling her eyes at her girlfriends' behaviour. She was really having a difficult time giving Faith a second chance.

They all climbed the stairs quietly and as they neared Buffy's room they saw Dawn sitting on the floor against the wall and straining her neck to hear what was going on in Buffy's room.

Dawn saw them approaching and made a sshhing motion with her finger on her lips. They nodded but all frowned wondering why she was spying on Buffy. They all sat down next to Dawn against the wall.

Xander, then Willow and then Tara. The door to Buffy's room was almost fully opened and they heard voices. One was definitely Buffy's and the other sounded ??

What was she still doing her? Wondered both Xander and Willow. Tara just had a knowing smile on her face.

In a hushed whisper Dawn said slightly giggling, "Faith is about to tell Buffy a bedtime story."

Xander and Willow looked at Dawn like she had grown another head.

Tara suddenly felt like there was some kind of magical presence in the house, but a good one.

Then they heard Faiths voice getting slightly louder as she started the story.

Back in the room

Faith took a deep breath and started her very spontaneous and almost original story. Clearing her throat she began:

"Once upon a time there lived a princess named Buffy."That earned her an eye roll and a bright smile from Buffy."She lived in a beautiful kingdom with her father King Giles,""Faith!!"Shouted Buffy incredulously with a disgusted face.

"Shut it B, it`s my story."Sighing Buffy nodded her head."Anyways,"she said stressing the word anyways,"She lived in the kingdom with her father King Giles, "she said pulling the word longer than necessary," and Queen Joyce. One day Princess Buffy and her two best friends, Princess Angel and Princess Riley decided to go for a walk near the forest."

Grinning at the evil glare Buffy sent her way, while laughs and giggles were muffled outside unbeknownst to Faith and Buffy."C`mon B, ya can`t say it aint funny, "she said poking Buffy in the side, and getting a little giggle in return.

Huffing at Faith and trying to hide the smile that wanted to break free, she just pouted angrily. And Faith couldn`t deny that her heart almost melted at the sight.

Continuing on with her story. "So they all began to walk to the forest but when they got closer and deeper Princess Riley and Princess Angel got scared and said that they should go back to the castle. But Princess Buffy was brave and wanted to go deeper into forest.

They warned her that a monster lived in the forest and that it would hurt her, but she didn`t listen. She was stubborn and when she wanted to do something she usually did it. As she walked deeper and deeper into the forest she felt like she was being watched.

She felt as if though something was following her."Faith paused for dramatic effect and leaned forward and the scoobies that were spying outside unconsciously all leaned forward as well in anticipation.

She looked at Buffy with serious eyes and then clapped her hands loudly and shouted, "BAM!"

The scoobies had to stifle their screams....Okay mostly only Xander did.

"A vicious wolf, "she said smiling at the wolf part, "trapped her .It was growling and foaming at the mouth. It had sharp canines baring at her and she was scared."

"Hey."Protested Buffy weakly as she looked sleepily on at Faith as she told her story. Faith smiled at the half asleep Buffy and continued.

"As the wolf got closer the princess thought that this was it. Suddenly a mess of brown and dishevelled hair tackled the wolf. They began to fight and tumbled around together and the mysterious stranger was the better fighter and had the upper hand and finally took it out.

The princess went immediately to assist the person that saved her. She wanted to make sure that the hero who helped her was alright.

When she approached the dark haired saviour, they stood up and tensed. Princess Buffy then realised that her knight in shining armour was not a he but a she. The long dark curls and feminine features gave that away.

Half of the stranger's hair was covering her face and she would not look at the Princess. The princess not being one to be impolite or ungrateful spoke up.' Thank you very much for saving my life. `

Faith tried to mimic Buffy voice, receiving a scowl in return which made her smirk.

"The princess tried to get closer to the girl but the dark haired stranger moved back. When the Princess persisted in coming closer, the mysterious girl spoke up but with her head still held down.

"Please just leave..."she said in a broken voice. Shocked at hearing the girls voice for the first time Princess Buffy who might I add was such a goody two shoes didn`t bother to listen to the dark haired girls pleas."

That part earned her a sleepy eye roll from Buffy who was still listening intently even though she was fighting of the sandman.

"She grabbed the girls arm so quickly that the natural instinct for the stranger was to lash out and hit Princess Buffy."Faith paused for a minute thinking about what she was going to say next.

"It was a mistake but it was for the princesses own good. She didn`t belong around people like her. But princess Buffy didn`t leave and it surprised the dark haired girl.

She went closer to her and moved the hair away from her face. A small gasp escaped the princesses' lips. The dark haired girl was sure that now the princess would leave, screaming like all the others when they saw what a monster she really was.

But she didn`t and she kept her hand upon the scarred side of the girls face. Suddenly the girl pulled away from the princess ashamed. How could she stand before royalty and allow her to touch her disgusting and ugly face.

"What happened?"Asked the princess with such a caring look in her eyes the dark haired girl almost fell over from it.

Because the princess was the only one to ever stay and not run after seeing her scarred face the girl told her what had happened.

She had been cursed by a witch because she thought she was bad. They shunned her out of her village and the witch casted a spell on her.

She would forever have those scars on her face until someone comes along and sees through it and then the spell would be broken. It seemed like a simple solution but there were many people out there that judged a person before they even knew them.

Voices were heard through the forest. People were looking for the princess, and she looked back at the girl. She really didn`t want to go but the guards would come looking for her. She stepped forward and the mysterious girl froze in her place.

She placed a gentle kiss upon her cheek and suddenly a warm glow surrounded them both. When they opened their eyes they saw that the curse was lifted.

The princess looked on wide eyed. The girl who once looked wild and savage was now really just HOT."Said Faith wiggling her eyebrows at Buffy.

"Faaiith,"whined Buffy sleepily. Faith rolled her eyes and complied and said, "Fine whatever, the princess was such a prude anyways,"she mumbled and luckily Buffy didn`t hear that part or the story would never end."So after the Princess got over her shock over how Ho-I mean pretty she was, "she said with a fake smile, "she said, "Come back with me."Faith knew this sentence had so much potential for innuendo but kept it PG.

"The dark haired girl was torn. She wanted to go with the princess but this was now her home. So she told the princess that she couldn`t. Even though the princess was the nicest and most amazing person she had ever met, "said Faith in an exaggerated kind of voice," and who even lifted the curse she couldn`t leave the forest.

She had finally found a purpose in her life. Fighting the bad guys and saving the innocent people. So the princess finally understood.

As the voices of the guards got closer she pulled the girl into a big hug surprising them both and promised to come visit her soon and took off.

The princesses' saviour really hoped she would return. Maybe she had finally made a friend."

Faith released a long sigh and said unenthusiastically, "The end."Buffy was almost asleep and Faith wondered how her stupid story didn`t knock her out already. Speaking with a sleepy voice and a small yawn she smiled slightly at Faith and said.

"That story sounded similar to Beauty and the Beast, "she smiled slyly at Faith. Faith shrugged and said, "It was the first thing that came to mind and I just improvised and shit.I`m not that creative."She stretched out her arms and legs also letting out a yawn.

"Well I think it`s time for you to sleep already blondie and I aint telling ya another story."She stood up and moved the chair back into its original place and came to stand next to Buffy's bed.

"Hey Faith, "she said gaining her attention."The mysterious stranger that happens to be Princess Buffys hero, it was you wasn`t it."She stated smirking slightly.

Faith smirked right back and said, "Well I did say the princess thought she was hot, who else would it be?"She chuckled softly. Buffy just snorted at that statement and it caused them both to laugh more.

"Well I better get going..."said Faith jabbing a thumb towards the doorway. As she was halfway to the door Buffy called to her again, but Faith could see that her eyes were already closed but she still spoke.

She said the three words that Faith only hoped she would someday hear and it caused her eyes to glisten with tears."I forgive you..."and with a yawn she was out like a light. She just stood there looking at Buffy thinking that the tiny little blonde didn`t even realise how much those three words meant to her."Night B..."

Outside the room the others too were coming to realisations of their own. Maybe they had judged Faith too quickly before and never really gave her a chance and in that moment when Buffy forgave Faith the rest of the Scoobies forgave her too.

Willow felt really guilty about the way she treated Faith back in high school. Always wanting her to leave them alone and go away. She only wanted to be friends with them but they pushed her away and so she pushed them away.

Xander and Willow both forgave her in that moment and they all left from their spots before Faith could see them. Tara and Willow went into their room while Xander took a fast asleep Dawn to her room and then left the house quietly.

That night magical moments happened and it was also the night that Faith finally got forgiven by all those she had hurt even though she just didn`t know it yet. She had finally earned their trust back and maybe things would start looking up for her.

Okay this took me forever and I`m not very happy with this chapter but reviews are always appreciated.

So Please tell me what you think.


	12. Chapter 12

I Don't Own Anything.

Here is the next update. Please review. It`s like oxygen or food or something to all writers....

Chapter 12

The next morning

The Summers kitchen was filled with excited chatter, mostly from one very hyper Buffy Summers. When she woke up this morning she was feeling like the energizer bunny.

Everybody knew that it was the spell that was making her act more like her four year old self but were also relieved that she wouldn`t be one by the end of the day.

Though a hyper Buffy was definitely a cute Buffy. She was in the kitchen having a bowl of captain crunch, chewing and talking.

Xander,Anya,Dawn,Willow and Tara were all in the kitchen having breakfast together while an enthusiastic Buffy told them about how much fun she had yesterday with Faith.

They watched her as she talked animatedly making hand gestures with excited babbling. They all had on amused faces.

Everything was Faith this and Faith that. It reminded them of a little child who had made a new friend and would talk about them nonstop.

She told them about everything they had done. The place near the docks that she had no idea existed. The arcade, the Seal and then surprising her by taking her to a carnival. She told them about Faith sneaking her onto the roller coaster by pretending to be pregnant.

This caused Xander to choke on his orange juice and it came out of his nose, while Anya repeatedly hit him on his back. After finally calming down she told them about her favourite part of their time together.

The ice-rink.

They were all taken aback by that even Tara. She had actually built an ice rink just for Buffy. It was beyond just for helping purposes.

It was a very sweet gesture in itself but the others started to think about other reasons of why Faith would go through so much of trouble, just for Buffy.

But Buffy being as dense as she was didn`t even think about it, and just saw it as a token of friendship.

Giles had called a meeting earlier on and they were all meeting at Buffy's house, thus the reason why the Scoobies were all in the Summers kitchen having breakfast together.

Buffy was upstairs getting dressed when a knock came from the front door. Thinking it was Giles she made her way down.

Half way down the stairs she saw Xander opening the door and letting in Faith, who definitely wasn`t Giles. Buffy couldn`t help the huge smile that formed when she saw Faith.

When Faith locked eyes on Buffy you would have thought her smile couldn`t have gotten bigger. She ran a few more steps down and jumped into Faiths arms as she stood at the bottom of the stairs.

Faith was shocked at Buffy's sudden actions and thanked the Powers That Be that she was a slayer. Because Buffy could really jump as four year old. Only her Slayer strength and reflexes helped her catch Buffy, otherwise there would`ve been a Buffy pancake right now, at the bottom of the stairs.

Buffy inhaled the scent of Faiths shampoo as she buried her face into dark brown and slightly curly hair. It made her feel calm and safe and she didn`t want to ever let go.

That thought immediately made Buffy slip out of Faith warm and comforting embrace. Faith had a confused expression on her face and raised an eyebrow in question to the tiny little blonde.

"What? I wasn`t going to let you carry me around the whole day. Plus we have a meeting to get started."She turned to look at Xander who looked equally as confused as Faith and also had a little knowing look as well.

"Err...yeah actually Giles arrived just a few minutes ago, so we better get in the there, "he said with a gesture of his head. They both nodded and began to make their way to the living room where everybody was gathered.

All the seats in the living room were suspiciously taken and Anya saved a place for Xander next to herself. So that would leave the one seater couch left for the two of them.

Faith sat down first and then looked at Buffy with her signature smirk and patting her lap for Buffy to sit on."C`mon B, jump on."Buffy looked around quickly for any kind of small opening to sit in but there was none.

It didn`t help that Faith was smirking at her all cockily like she use to and was wearing her usual leather pants, white wife beater and leather jacket and heavy steal toes boots.

Everybody was looking at Buffy waiting for her to sit in Faiths lap so they could begin. They didn`t even look bothered by the fact that she had to sit on Faiths lap.

She climbed onto the couch and plopped herself in Faiths lap trying to stop sliding."Did you have to wear leather?"She mumbled under her breath flustered by having to move around so much.

The meeting had already begun while Buffy shifted this way and that. Faith suddenly held her gently against herself and said softly whispering just so Buffy could hear, "Hell yea, I`m going to be taking out a demon tonight, gotta look hot doin` it."

Buffy shivered from the warm breath that she felt on her neck. She was definitely not having any four year old thoughts at the moment. Only someone calling her name broke her out of her gutter mind.

"Buffy are you paying attention?"Asked Giles the way a strict teacher would to a student. Looking around sheepishly she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Err...yes?"

Giles shook his head at his never change. Wiping his glasses and sighing he decided to address Faith.

"It doesn`t matter at the moment now, "sighing once again, "Faith are you quite ready for tonight? You know it would be better if you brought back up just in case."

"Nah, G-man, I`ll be fine, it's just gonna be him an` me." "Yes, but if there are unforeseen circumstances you might need assistance."

"It`s cool G-man, I don`t want you guys to get hurt or anything` and plus if he tries to use his mojo again I won`t be able to stop him from getting all of you."She said bouncing Buffy slightly on her knee, to stop her fidgeting.

"Well, "he said cleaning his glasses again, "I cannot force you take back up but perhaps you should consider asking Spike to tag along just in case,""NO!"Shouted Buffy.

Everybody looked at Buffy."What?"She asked looking at all of them."Buffy why wouldn`t you want Faith to ask for assistance from Spike. "Asked Giles frowning at her. But just as she was about to answer Faith spoke up.

"Doesn`t matter, I don`t need the Billy idol wannabe as back up. Don't worry about it. I`ll get the horns and then you guys can do the mojo with it and presto!!B will be back to her normal self."Faith felt Buffy relax into her and sigh.

Buffy was grateful to Faith for interrupting her. She didn`t want to explain the Spike situation to everybody.

After that only minor details were discussed and then the others left for work or school. Faith was about to leave but Buffy called after her.

Looking nervous and feeling even more nervous on the inside she asked Faith if she wanted to stay and hang out with her.

"Wow, I thought that you`d be tired of me by now, but I know it`s `cause I`m so hot, "said Faith jokingly and gave her a dimpled smile. Buffy felt herself blush crimson and hid her face. Faith plopped down on the couch in the living room and turned on the TV all the while smirking.

Buffy came to sit next to her and rolled her eyes and playfully punched her in the arm. So they watched the morning away with cartoons and then decided to order in pizza because they were too lazy to leave the house.

They ate pizza and had ice-cream afterwards, rocky road for Faith and vanilla for Buffy. They ended up reading comic books throughout the afternoon. Buffy was surprised by how much she was actually enjoying herself.

She wasn`t into reading comic books like Xander or Faith but Faith had some really nice ones that she had never heard off and then she was hooked.

By the time night fall came Faith regretted having given Buffy any kinds of sweets and sugars at all. She was so hyper active that she even suggested that she go with Faith to hunt down the demon. She came prancing down the stairs dragging a sword and a couple of stakes with her.

She looked up at Faith and said, "I'm ready for patrol."She looked so serious that Faiths eyes almost bugged out of her head."No fuckin` way."Was all Faith said when she heard that.

There might have been some pouting and huffing but Faith didn`t cave this time...

Later that night.

Faith was now walking through the third cemetery of the night and still hadn`t found the demon yet.' Maybe thirds the charm `thought Faith dryly to herself.

Suddenly her vamp tingles were going off.' Least I`ll get some action tonight,' she thought to herself getting into a fighting stance. Out of the shadows a familiar bleached blonde vampire appeared with a cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Ah, if it isn`t the other Slayer. Thought ya were suppose ta be in jail Dark one? Escaped have ya?"He asked approaching her with a cocky smirk. Faith wanted so badly to punch him in the face but she had to find the demon tonight or else Buffy wouldn`t be able to change back.

"Didn`t escape, out on parole, so get lost, "she said now continuing with her search. Spike didn`t seem to get the hint and walked with her. Blowing out a puff of smoke into the air he said, "Hear the Golden Ones` gone bite size, "he said smirking.

She stopped and turned to face him, and she really was trying really hard not to stake him."Could you leave me the fuck alone!!And leave Buffy outta this too or you`ll be fuckin dust!"She began to walk faster and away from the bleach blonde vampire and mumbling to herself.

"She can`t even stand you, don`t know why he can`t even take a fuckin` hint..." "Well that`s not what she was sayin` a few weeks ago luv,"said Spike grinning evilly when Faith stopped dead in her tracks.

She turned and looked at him with menacing eyes that would scare any vampire but Spike seemed to have a death wish.

"What she didn`t tell ya?"He asked acting all innocent, "I thought she woulda told ya, her little gang should know by now, but I can guarantee ya that they all definitely know after the last time we were together."

Spike carried on speaking and walking not noticing how Faith was shaking with anger. Her eyes looked almost black from all the rage she had inside of her.

"We were goin at it in my crypt all night and let me tell ya now the holier than thou Buffy Summers aint so holier than thou, "he never got to finish his sentence because Faith was on him beating him with an unleashed rage.

He couldn`t get in one punch in to defend himself. Faith kept on punching him until she felt him go unconscious. She looked at her bloodied hands and felt sickened with herself. She immediately got up of the unconscious Spike and ran.

She ran and ran until she hit something solid. Her eyes landed on something that looked like it came straight out of hell. It was the same demon Buffy had described.

With all the pain, disgust and shame she still had in her she used it to fight the demon. It was strong and got in a few hits and slashed her side pretty badly but she managed to catch him off guard and snapped his thick neck, causing him to crumble to the floor.

She bent down and began cutting the horns that they needed for the spell and took off. The walk back to Buffy's house was one filled with many thoughts and all of them weren`t any good.

Buffy and Spike.

She knew Buffy loved Angel and that he was her first love but Spike?!She couldn`t understand the blondes infatuation with boinking the was angry and jealous.

She knew that she had feelings for Buffy from the moment she had laid eyes on her and it was also one of the reasons she turned to the bad guys, though it wasn`t an excuse for her bad mistakes and choices.

She just couldn`t get the image of Buffy and Spike out of her head. And before she knew it she was entering Buffy's was in the living room once again and Buffy was the first one up and rushed to Faiths side.

"Oh my god, Faith what happened?!"She asked coming closer to Faith to inspect the wound.

She shrugged and said nonchalantly, "Nothin` just a scratch."And tried to move away from Buffy discreetly. But Buffy was like a fly to jam."Look I`m fine and I got the horns, "she said pulling out the pouch with the horns in it and handing it over to Willow and Tara.

"Well this is all we need. It will take us at least fifteen minutes to set up and then we are good to go, "said Willow in her normally cheerful way.

Buffy nodded absently still looking at Faith. She seemed distant to Buffy like she was trying to avoid her. And Buffy knew something must have happened tonight and she was determined to find out just what.

But unfortunately Faith was a master at avoiding situations and it was time to for the spell to begin. Willow sat down on the floor Indian style and poured sand around Buffy in a circle. She began to chant in Latin and her eyes turned black.

The others were worried about Willow doing the spell, especially Tara but she said that she could handle it and they all finally relented.

A bright white light engulfed the entire room causing everyone to shut their eyes tight. When the light disappeared a now older Buffy was sitting in the circle. She was back to her normal self and right age. She stood up and smiled as Willow pulled her into a hug, followed by Xander.

"It's good to have you back Buffster,"said Xander grinning goofily. The others were all telling her how glad they were that she was back to her normal self but Buffy's attention was elsewhere.

She was looking for a certain dark haired Slayer who was now nowhere in sight and from the non tingles she wasn`t getting she knew that Faith was no longer in the house.

She sighed and knew that now she would have to find Faith and confront her but for some reason she had a feeling it wasn`t going to be a very pretty confrontation....


	13. Chapter 13

I own nothing, ECT blah, blah, blah...

Chapter 13

It had been a week since Buffy was changed back and Faith was now definitely a pro in avoidance according to Buffy.

She`d come over to the magic box and train, and they would spar but it didn`t feel like it did back then. It was like she was just trying to get the training over with and get the hell out of there, and that was what she exactly did.

Buffy was getting angry and frustrated. After hanging out with Faith as her four year old self she felt that maybe things had changed for the better for them but, noooo, Faith has to go all avoid-y on her and barely even says two words to her.

She needed to talk to someone about how she felt and what was going on, but she couldn`t talk to Willow or Xander.

Yesterday in the Magic Box they were all doing research about some new vampire that came into town and then suddenly, Xander and Willow asked to speak to Faith privately. To say she looked pale would be an understatement.

But she nodded her head and followed. She may have been a bad-ass but she was terrified about what they wanted from her. Did they want her to leave? Now that the crisis with Buffy was over did they want her to leave Sunnydale and never come back??

When they started to talk to her about the things she had done to them and how they would never forgive her, her shoulders sagged and she knew what they were trying to say. Both of them saw Faith looking like she was about to break down, and they realised what she was thinking.

Quickly correcting what they were trying to say they began to tell her about overhearing the story she told Buffy the day before Buffy was turned back. Faith was honestly embarrassed and even blushed.

Willow was very surprised at her behaviour and so was Xander and she even began to stutter out excuses and then babble. Thankfully Willow decided to end the torture and began to explain that they too had made mistakes and bad choices back then.

They apologised to her for not really giving her a real chance the first time around and now they would give her a chance and they had forgiven her.

Faith was in shock. She just stood there with a blank expression on her face. After blinking a few times she said with no emotion in her voice, "Are ya shittin` me? Ya just gonna forgive` me, just like that??"She asked incredulously.

"Ofcourse, but you still have to prove to us you`ve changed. When you helped Buffy and the rest of us with that demon last week I knew that I had already forgiven you."Said Xander who threw an arm over Faiths shoulder.

Willow on the other hand looked a little more serious though, but she agreed with Xander."You hurt us pretty badly back then Faith and especially Buffy. But I`m willing to give you another chance and forgive you because I can see you`ve changed. Just don`t make us regret it."

She was speechless, only a few minutes ago she thought she was about to say goodbye to Sunnydale forever and now here she was, being given a second chance.

When they all came back to the front of the shop Faith looked like she had a weight lifted of her shoulders and she seemed lighter than before. The burden of having carried so much of pain and guilt vanished almost completely but she`d always have the memories as a constant reminder.

Buffy tried talking to Faith when she saw her in such a good mood but Faith just left. She was being really difficult and Buffy felt like she would have to do something drastic in order to get Faith to talk to her.

One morning while having her morning coffee in the kitchen Tara walked in and greeted Buffy."Morning Buffy,"she smiled warmly at the blonde Slayer. Buffy barely managed an audible `Morning `back to her, too busy sulking and being moody.

Deciding to find out what had put Buffy in such a foul mood Tara spoke up."Buffy are you okay?"Just getting a nod from Buffy did not convince her."Well you don`t seem f-fine. Do you want to talk about it?"She asked in her normal Tara kind of way that Buffy found some comfort in.

Sighing she nodded her head yes and they walked into the living room to sit down and talk about what was bothering Buffy. Sensing that Buffy wasn`t going to start Tara decided to take a chance and broach the subject."Is this about Faith?"She asked trying not to sound too curious but she curious none the less.

Buffy looked at Tara wide eyed, "How did you know?!"She asked slightly panicking. Did she know that Buffy was having mixed feelings about Faith and that every time Faith avoided her she felt like crying??

"Well it`s pretty obvious, "said Tara with a knowing smile.`Oh my god she totally knows!!`Buffy started to panic and her panic was clearly shown on her face. Tara quickly tried to calm her down."I mean she`s been avoiding you right?"She said playing dumb.

Sighing in relief Buffy nodded,"Yeah and I don`t even know why?!It`s like she`s angry with me or something. Ever since she came back after fighting that freaky hell demon she hasn`t even looked me in the eyes once."

They both were silent and thinking.

"Maybe you should just give her some space. You know after coming back to a place like this and confronting all the people you have hurt and then having them forgive you, it must be overwhelming for her."Said Tara trying to rationalise why Faith was avoiding Buffy.

But the thing was she didn`t even understand why Faith was avoiding Buffy. It was strange and she hoped that they could work it out. She really wanted to confront Buffy about her feelings for Faith.

She hadn`t seen the blonde so sad since she same back to life and thanks to Faith she was smiling a lot more and the old Buffy was starting to come back. But now she seems to be crawling back into that same shell of herself again.

"Maybe I can try and talk to her on patrol and get her to tell me what`s wrong, "said Buffy taking a sip of her coffee and sighing."Maybe, "said Tara mimicking her wanting to say something else but deciding not to.

As she watched Buffy walk back into the kitchen she just hoped that the Chosen Two would be able to work out whatever was going on between them.

Later that night on patrol.

Buffy was walking through Shady Hills cemetery. Faith said that she would meet her there but just wanted to do a quick sweep of the closer cemeteries nearby.

Now an hour later she was still walking through the cemetery waiting for Faith and had only staked one newbie vamp which did nothing to calm her nerves. Suddenly her vamp tingles were going off and out of the shadows appeared someone Buffy did not have the patience to deal with.

"Hello luv,"said Spike smirking as he sauntered up to Buffy."Not now Spike I don`t have time for this, "said Buffy sounding very annoyed and irritated by Spikes presence."Please Slayer I know ya want me, "he said getting up into Buffy's personal space.

She could feel his cold and undead body against hers and it made her involuntarily shiver on the inside. He smirked somehow sensing her internal shiver thinking he had Buffy right where he wanted her.

"If you don`t get out of my face in the next three seconds you`ll be finding the pointy end of my stake up your ass,"she said as menacingly possible as she could. He started to chuckle at that but stepped back a little.

"Well I knew ya liked it rough Slayer, "said Spike smirking. Suddenly Buffy found herself pinned to the ground with Spike on top of her. She tried to wriggle out of his grip but it only made him smirk even more.

"What`s the rush Slayer?"He asked grinding into and causing her to moan but feeling disgusted by it, "we got all the time in the world."He started kissing her neck and making his way down her throat all the while holding a struggling Buffy down.

She felt helpless and Spike wasn`t listening, she should have just staked him but now it was too late. He had a chip in his head but it seemed like he could hurt Buffy just fine without being hurt. She heard him opening his zipper and real panic began to settle in.

She finally got an arm free and punched him but he recovered quickly and punched her back just as hard which caused her lip to split. The site of her bleeding lip caused Spike to morph into his vampire form.

He kissed her roughly causing a groan from Buffy. She tried to fight him but it was useless and just as she was about to give up she felt the weight on top of her vanish.

Opening her eyes she saw something that made her feel real fear for the first time in a very long time since defeating The Master.

Faith in all her glory, dark leather pants, red sleeveless vest and leather jacket looking at Spike with eyes that seemed almost black. She was breathing heavily and her hand that held a stake was shaking.

Spike was on the ground clutching at his ribs. She had kicked him so hard he was sure he had cracked a few ribs. He rubbed away the blood coming from his mouth, he stood up and still smirked at the dark slayer."Come ta join the party, have ya? Don`t worry, me an' the Slayer here were just getting` reacquainted."He started to chuckle all the while still looking over at Buffy with lustful eyes.

Before anyone could even blink an eye Faith was on Spike beating the shit out of him. She let him get up this time allowing him to at least give her a proper fight. He smirked at her actions and decide to push her buttons a little further.

To him this was all amusing. Yes he had feelings for the blonde Slayer and he wanted her as his own but he couldn`t help pushing the buttons of the Dark Slayer. He hadn`t seen such anger and darkness in someone in such a long time.

Well someone should have told Spike that pushing her buttons was not a good idea for him or anybody else for that matter.

As she blocked an incoming punch from Spike and elbowed him hard in the face he still kept a vicious grin on his face."I don`t know why ya hittin` me. The Slayer knows she likes it. Why do ya` think she kept on comin` back to me all those times before?"He said smugly.

And because he was gloating he didn`t see the punch aimed his way."My fuckin`nose!!Ya broke my fuckin` nose,you bitch!!"He shouted cupping his bloodied nose. Faith didn`t give two shits about his broken nose or the `pain` he was in.

She grabbed him and started unleashing all the rage she had in her. Again she was losing control of herself and felt her knuckles split. But she was now gone in too far to stop herself.

Buffy who was still on the ground finally snapped out of her trance and got up. She saw how Faith was unleashing her rage on Spike. She didn`t care if Faith staked him or not but she felt like she owed him something for looking out for Dawn when she died.

She saw Faith was about ready to drive the stake through his undead heart and turn him to dust and quickly ran to her and pulled her of Spike and holding her tightly while she struggled to free herself."Let me fuckin` go, B!!"Shouted Faith breathing unevenly and shaking slightly.

Spike saw this as his opportunity and ran away but not before having the last word."I`ll be seein`ya Slayer."And then he was gone blending into the shadows.

Buffy felt Faith slightly relax in her arms and turned her around. Faith wouldn`t look at her. Buffy had finally figured out why Faith had been avoiding by putting two and two together.

She must have ran into Spike before and he obviously decided it would be a good idea to tell Faith all about what happened between the two of them.

She wanted to stake him herself so badly but she knew she couldn`t. Dawn would be devastated if she knew and he was a good source of information for the group when there was a new big bad in town.

"Faith..."said Buffy just above a whisper but it echoed over the thick silence that settled between the two of them and Faith shook her head at Buffy and said, "Let's just get ya home and cleaned up first."And then she began to walk in the direction of Buffy house.

Buffy followed behind her and they didn`t say a word to each other until her house came into their line of vision. Buffy opened her front door and let Faith in first. They walked all the way up stairs and into the bathroom. Nobody was home.

Dawn was at Xander and Anya's but would be back later that evening and Tara and Willow were at some Wiccan meeting.

Faith took out the first aid kit and motioned for Buffy to sit on the closed toilet seat. She sat down wordlessly as Faith began to clean the cut on the side of her head she didn`t even remember getting.

Faith was cleaning her cut so gently as if though Buffy was made of glass. She had a look of intense concentration on her face. It made Buffy feel those warm tingles again and she flushed from Faith being in such close proximity.

She began cleaning the cut on Buffy's lip and then when she finally looked up into those green eyes of the blonde Slayer she felt like time had stopped. Both she and Buffy were just staring into one another's eyes saying things that they would never dare say aloud.

Faith could feel Buffys warm breath against her face and it was just like a moth to a candle flame as she drew nearer to Buffy and Buffy to her.

They were about to do something that would change things between them forever but a voice shouting from downstairs broke them both apart and they jumped away from each other like they had been burnt.

"Honey I`m home, "Shouted Xander and then you could hear Anya's voice suddenly shouting at him, telling him that she was his only honey and not Buffy or anyone else, but the Slayers upstairs were too busy trying to wrap their minds around what just almost happened a few moments ago.

Both feeling awkward and uncomfortable just standing in the bathroom and not making eye contact Faith decided to leave. But Buffy saw her bloodied knuckles and stopped her with a hand on her forearm.

Electricity shot through both of them on contact and they pulled away immediately."I...err, y-your, er... knuckles are split, "said Buffy flushing slightly at her stuttering.

Faith looked at her hands and saw that her knuckles were split. She shrugged it off and said,"Nothin` Slayer healing can`t take care of, but I,er...better get going."And before Buffy could object or say anything she was gone.

Faith couldn`t have stayed in that bathroom with Buffy for a second longer because if she had, she would have jumped Buffy already. Her feelings for the blonde were already getting in the way of slaying and tonight proved how much.

She really had to sort out her head and figure out what was going on with her but what was troubling her the most was that Buffy seemed to want to kiss her too.

While Buffy just stood in her bathroom and decided not to complicate her already complicated life and chalked up the whole situation to the case of the H&Hs.

But little did Buffy know that, that was not the case and a certain event that was about to take place would bring out the green eyed monster in our favourite little blonde Slayer.

Please .


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing.

Chapter 13

It had been a few days since the Spike incident and Buffy and Faith were avoiding each other like the plague.

Buffy who wanted nothing more than to get Faith to talk with her was now finding ways not to. Whenever they had to talk it would become awkward and the tension in the room could be felt by everyone.

All of them were curious about what had happened between the two of them but Faith wasn`t saying anything and Buffy was avoiding them.

Willow decided to corner her best friend one afternoon at the Magic Box while she was pounding away on the punching bag. Faith luckily wasn`t there today so she could confront Buffy without any interruptions.

She walked down the stairs to the training room and watched as Buffy relentlessly punched the poor punching bag. She seemed to be in her own world and didn`t even notice Willow.

Clearing her throat seemed to snap Buffy out of whatever was occupying her thoughts. She looked at Willow and gave her a questioning look."What`s up Wills?"She asked nonchalantly while taking off the tape around her hands.

Willow gave her a pointed looked and huffed slightly, "Don't you dare try and act all innocent with me Missy, "said Willow trying to sound intimidating. Buffy sighed and turned to look at her friend.

"I`m not trying to act all innocent, I don`t even know what you're talking about."She began to pick up her gym bag she brought with her and took out her towel."Yes you do, why have you been avoiding us? After Tara and I got back from that Wiccan meeting the other day you`ve been acting strange. What`s going on Buffy?"Asked Willow frowning in concern.

She sighed once more, not sure if she should tell Willow what had happened between her and Faith. Willow wasn`t a big Faith fan and who knows how she`ll react.

When Buffy took too long to answer her, she saw the hurt look that crossed her friends face and' feeling bad she decided she really needed to confide in somebody and who better than her best friend.

Sighing and sitting down on the work out bench Buffy took a deep breath and began."It`s Faith."Willow looked at her with raised eye brows, trying to tell her to carry on but she just sat there looking at Willow.

"I didn`t know we were playing charades?!"Said Willow somewhat excitedly."Okay you and Faith were patrolling and then you brought up past mistakes and you ended up fighting with each other which lead to the cuts on your head and lip?"She said as more of a question than a statement.

Shaking her head in the negative, and Willow realising that this was a stalling tactic on Buffy's part but continued anyway."Okaay, well did you guys run into Spike?"When Buffy nodded her head Willow smiled slightly thinking she was getting closer to the problem.

"Did someone end up getting their butts handed to them?"She asked somewhat playfully and when Buffy nodded her head once more she realised that this would take forever if Willow had to guess what had happened.

So deciding to take the plunge she spoke."Yeah, Spike was the one who got his ass handed to him by Faith. And the cut on my head and busted lip were compliments of Spike as well. He kind of cornered me in the cemetery the other day..."And then Buffy tried to not make any eye contact with Willow after this confession.

"What?!!"Shouted Willow and it came out sounding high pitched and shrill hurting Buffy's sensitive Slayer hearing ears."Buffy!!Why didn`t you tell me?!I knew he was up to no good!!I could`ve given you that protection spell and, "then her babbling mode began.

After Willow ended her babbling fest and breathing slightly heavier than normal she looked at Buffy with an upset expression."What did he do to you Buffy?"She asked now more seriously with her resolve face on.

`Damn Willow and the resolve face,' though Buffy mentally to herself."Nothing, besides getting in a few punches, Faith arrived before he could try anything and went crazy on him, beating him like a punching bag."

Her thoughts drifted to that night and remembered the look in Faiths eyes, it was the same look she had back when they use to go slaying and Faith use to beat the vampires up till they were unconscious. It was wild and filled with pure rage, it was the Slayer in its true form but it was dangerous to let go like that.

"Well that`s good, "said Willow snapping Buffy out of her thoughts of Faiths beating up Spike. She looked at her friend shocked."Since when are you a fan of Faith beating up people?"Asked Buffy staring at Willow wondering what she was thinking.

"First of all Spike isn`t people and he was attacking you and probably would have done something even more worse if Faith didn`t show up when she did. And why are you sticking up for Spike anyways."Asked Willow looking at Buffy with suspicious eyes.

"I`m not sticking up for Spike I`m just wondering since when are you and Faith all buddy, buddy?"

"We`re not buddy, buddy,"said Willow mocking Buffy," I'm just on her side because she saved my best friends life and now you're really avoiding the real subject here, "she said pointing an accusing finger at Buffy.

"Fine, whatever, Faith kind of saved my life but I also realised why Faith had been avoiding me that whole week after I was turned back."

"Well "asked Willow waiting for her to continue, Buffy rolled her eyes at Willows prodding and continued.

"She found out about what happened between me and Spike..."she trailed off and looked away, trying not to make eye contact.

Willow may have been seen as the nerdy computer geek in high school but she wasn`t blind to not see how Faith felt about Buffy. It was quite obvious since high school that the dark Slayer had feeling for her blonde friend.

And perhaps that was also one of the main reason Faith turned to the Mayor after the Allan Finch incident. Buffy definitely wasn`t blonde for no reason. [NO offence to any other blondes who may or may not be reading this you are all definitely the exceptions]

But that was Buffy. She`d get too caught up in her own life and problems and miss out on the most obvious things going on around her. The way Faith acted around her, the sexual innuendos and her tough girl exterior, but all she ever wanted was for Buffy to just see her. To really see her....

But now Willow thinks it's time to give Buffy a clue that she so desperately needs."So....?"She asked wanting to see if Buffy would continue or just avoid the question all together.

"Well we decided to end patrol early and head back home to get me cleaned up and she tagged along. We were upstairs in the bathroom with her cleaning my cuts and,"Buffy was nervous and she felt like she was sweating like a pig.

`Just tell Willow, it`s like ripping a band-aid off, easy and no pain, yeah right...`Rolling her eyes at herself she said,"And, w-well we were just sitting really close to each other, andwealmostkissed."She rushed out mumbling the last part hoping Willow didn`t hear it.

"What?!"She shouted in a high pitched and definitely not Slayer hearing friendly voice."You heard what I said Wills, "said Buffy sighing.

"Oh my god, Buffy!!What happened?!Was it good?!Are you gay?!You know with the girly loving?!"She shouted her eyes getting comically wider with all the revelations."Sssh!!"Shouted Buffy making sure no one else heard.

"Look, I don`t know what happened and we didn`t kiss. Almost is a BIG difference. And I`m not gay or whatever, because it`s Faith. I still drive stick. And then there are the after slaying factors to consider in which would make the almost kiss nonexistent and just some extra post slaying energy trying to get free."She ended her ramble with a huge breath.

"I thought you said that you didn`t get those things or as Faith would put it, the H&Hs and would only crave a non fat yogurt afterwards?"Smirked Willow. Buffy blushed ten shades of red."Fine I do get the `H&Hs` as Faith so eloquently puts it, but don`t you dare tell anyone. "She threatened Willow and then sighed heavily her cheeks still burning brightly.

"Okay, okay, that doesn`t matter right now, what does matter is why you seem so moody and sad lately? Do you have feelings for Faith?"Asked Willow hoping her friend doesn`t bite her head off for asking.

She hesitated for a second than laughed and said,"Ofcourse not Willow!!C`mon it`s Faith for gods sakes!!"

Little did Buffy know that as she said that a certain brunette was standing at the entrance of the training room with a broken expression on her face and took off immediately after hearing what Buffy said about her. None of them any the wiser.

"I mean she`s the `get some get gone` kind of girl. How can I even be in a relationship with someone who doesn`t do relationships."When Buffy saw what Willow was about to say she quickly added on, "not that I want to date Faith or anything."

Sighing Willow decided to drop the subject for now. She would get Buffy to admit to her feelings for Faith sooner or later or else the resolve face was going to be working overtime.

Suddenly Buffy began to groan and rubbed her forehead."What`s up Buff? Are you okay?"Asked Willow as they made their way back into the magic box."Yeah, I`m fine but I just remembered that Giles wanted me and Faith to checked out this underground crypt tonight."

Patting her friend reassuringly on her back Willow said, "Don't worry, Buffy it`ll be okay, "not realising that it wasn`t going to be okay for her blonde Slayer friend.

Shaking her head in defeat Buffy knew that she had no way out of this tonight. Giles would give her a lecture of epic proportions on her duties and responsibilities as a Slayer.' Hopefully this night ends fast and uneventful `she thought hopefully but knowing fully well that on a hellmouth that was asking too much.

Later that night, somewhere in the underground crypt...

Buffy and Faith had been underground for the pass hour and still they had found nothing. They both were becoming uncomfortable and awkward around each they`d bump into each other by accident in the cramped spaces in the long tunnels, they`d mumbled a `sorry `or a `my bad`.

It was becoming unbearable.

Buffy could easily see the tension in Faiths posture and so could Faith in Buffy. But there was something else going on with Faith but Buffy just couldn`t put her finger on it.

Finally when Buffy couldn`t take it anymore and was about to speak a scream filled with pure pain and torture ran through the tunnels pulling both Slayers into action. They followed where they heard the screams coming from.

Faith was in the lead and the screaming was still going on and from it you could tell that the person or whatever it was in a great deal of pain. They finally reached a door that was half way open.

Faith raised a questioning eye brow at Buffy asking her how they had missed this. But all Buffy could do was shrug shaking her head. Slowly they crept in closer through the door. What they saw were definitely the bad guys that Giles wanted them to find.

There was some kind of throne in the middle of the stone room they were in. One vampire standing on each side, thanks to their slayer senses and another two more standing infront of a cage blocking their view of whatever was screaming.

There definitely was something in that cage. A deep laugh rumbled from the throne and both Buffy and Faiths eyes landed on a vampire who was surprisingly better looking than that of your average vampire.

Dark jet black hair sleeked back and dark brown almost black eyes. He had the features of a Greek god but just paler. Dressed in a black suit and buttoned down black shirt all neatly tucked in. He was smiling evilly at whatever was in the cage.

The two vampires blocking Buffy and Faiths view finally moved and they could finally see what was happening. They were hidden behind some wine barrels and had a good side view of everything in the room.

What they saw in the cage was a woman. A woman with dirty blonde hair with some lighter and some darker streaks in it. She had barely any clothes on besides her underwear and was chained up on each side of her wrists to the cage sides.

She was a beautiful woman and both Slayers couldn`t deny that. But she was bleeding and they could see clearly from the gashes on her stomach, sides and back that they had been using a whip to beat her.

The vampire on the throne stood up and went inside the cage all the while smiling like the king of the world. He began to press and tear at her wounds causing her to scream out more in pain which seemed to give him pleasure.

"My, my, you`ve been a bad little puppy haven`t you, Rhaya."He made a tsking sound that scarily reminded the slayers of Giles when he was disapproving of something."My people tell me that you`ve been trying to communicate with the rest of your pack telepathically, are you trying to warn them to not to rescue their Alpha? Because if you were then I`d have to teach you more lessons in being a good little bitch."

He brought out a really big dagger from under a cloth on the table nearby. He began to carve into her skin and the sounds of her screams were becoming excruciating for the Chosen Two.

They took this as an opportunity, they were all distracted and staked the two standing at the throne quickly and silently or so they thought. The two standing near the entrance of the cage saw the Slayers and charged.

Faith rolled out of the way of an incoming kick to her side and blocked a punch that was being aimed for her head.' These vamps were fast `thought Faith as she ducked away from another kick flying her way. Then quickly gaining her bearings she grabbed his hand in a wrist lock and twisted his arm hard and from the snap heard, probably broke his arm in the process.

Buffy on the other hand was having the same thoughts but still had the upper hand. Only a swift kick to the ribs of the vampire caused him to double over and she used that as her opportunity to stake him and at the same time Faith staked hers.

It felt like De ja` vu` to the both of them, but they didn`t have the time to go down memory lane.

"Ah, if it isn`t the Slayers. It`s a great honour to meet you both."He said with a slight Russian accent that was almost gone and slowly walked out of the cage with bloodied hands. He began to wipe them with a handkerchief from his pocket.

"Two Slayers existing at the same time is unprecedented. Even I haven`t seen two Slayers co-existing at the same time in my lifetime and I`ve been around for a while, trust me, "he smiled at the slayers at what he must have thought was a charming smile.

Buffy pulled at face at that and said,"Okay, with the perverted smile that we did not find charming," "Damn B that was one long ass name. "Interrupted Faith with a slight smirk. Buffy just rolled her eyes at her sister slayer and looked over at the vampire before them.

"Oh where are my manners. I am Yurick Novak of the Russian Dynasty.""The who of the what now??"Asked Buffy looking utterly confused and so was Faith.

"Look I don`t give a fuck if you are the fuckin`second cousin of Hitler himself, "said Faith taking a step forward, "All I see is, me Slayer, "she pointed to herself, "you vampire, "she pointed to Yurick,"now let's get this party started with, because I aint gonna let you keep that girl chained up there any longer."

With that she attacked Yurick and he looked unperturbed. He moved out of the way like it was nothing. She tried punching him but she missed again. Buffy could see she was getting frustrated so she decided to try taking him out.

But he seemed to dodge everything Buffy threw at him. He wasn`t like any of the other vampires Buffy had faced before but there hasn`t been one she hadn`t defeated yet so she wasn`t going to give up.

They both fought equally as hard but Yurick kept throwing them off like they were untrained fighters or more like annoying insects. It reminded her of when she fought Glory but quickly pushed that to the back of her mind.

Suddenly he stops fighting them and has a strange look in his eyes."Well it`s been a blast but now I must leave you. You may have Rhaya over here, "he sneered but then grinned evilly when he took in her presence of being slumped over with blood pooling beneath her.

And just like that he glided past the Slayers and was gone before anyone of them could register what had happened. They were too busy looking at the girl lying lifeless on the floor.

From listening in on the previous conversation, they knew she was a werewolf.

Faith was the first one to break out of her trance and ran to the lifeless girl lying in a pool of blood. She removed the chains around her wrists and pulled off her leather jacket and wrapped it around the woman in her arms.

She had a pulse and Faith breathed a sigh of relief. She took a closer look at the she wolf and thought that she was even more beautiful up close and personal even with all the bruises and cuts. She moved away some dirty blonde strands of hair out of her unconscious face tenderly.

Buffy saw that and it sparked something inside of her, a something she was not going to acknowledge at this point in time.

"We need to get her back to your house, "said Faith making her way out of the room. Buffy followed her and said, "Wouldn't a hospital be better?"She frowned wondering what Faith was thinking."B, she`s a werewolf or are they called She Wolves? Whatever, the point is they`re gonna ask about what happened to her and are ya ready with an explanation or some excuse? Plus she`s half naked, "she unnecessarily pointed out looking at the unconscious girl in her arms.

"Could you stop gaping at her like that?!"snapped Buffy."God, your worse than Xander was when we were in high school, "she muttered angrily and started to walk away faster.

Faith frowned in confusion and was somewhat annoyed at Buffy's statement.' Who cares if she was staring? It wasn`t any of Buffy's business.' She thought angrily to herself and began to walk even faster than Buffy.

Rhaya was surprising very light and she suspected that to be due to loss of blood and all the torture she endured for who knows how long.

When they reached Buffy's house, Buffy was in a bad mood, with thoughts of either punching Faith till she was unconscious or slapping her continuously for not even realising how she was practically drooling over the lifeless Rhayas` body.

She angrily opened the door and entered the house. The lights were still on and Faith walked into the living room to put her down on the couch. Willow and Tara were there and Tara quickly left to go get the first aid kit.

Faith kneeled besides Rhaya checking her over for any fatal wounds and then Tara returned and Faith got to work patching her up. Buffy just stood at the entrance of the living room glaring at Faith then the unconscious she wolf.

Willow saw this and approached Buffy and whispered so only she could hear."Green is so not your colour Buff."She said smirking at the frown on Buffy's face.

"I`m not jealous!"She whispered harshly and Faith looked at her frowning slightly but luckily she didn`t hear what Buffy said and turned back to tending to Rhaya.

Buffy began to rant softly to herself forgetting for the moment that Willow was standing right next to her.

"Just look at her, touching her all over and copping a feel. Who does she think she is?!Like anyone wants to be felt up by Faith while they were unconscious. Okay maybe some would want to be, but it`s still wrong."`Yeah, some like you,' thought Willow smirking internally to herself.

"Well as soon as she wakes up she will definitely be putting on some more clothes...."

`Oh,this could get messy...`thought Willow to herself shaking her head nand then sighing.`This is going to be a long night...`

[Just for the story's sake, Rhaya looks similar to Shakira,inspired from the song She Wolf.]

Please Review, Pretty Please.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own anything....

Chapter 15

Buffy was upstairs in her room, lying on her bed. Her room was dark and it was way past midnight, but she could still not fall asleep.

Maybe it had something to do with the former rogue slayer that was sleeping downstairs or the fact that she was downstairs and watching over the beautiful but temporary house guest. She had left clothes downstairs for when she woke up but she hadn`t yet, and that was most likely due to her injuries.

Buffy tossed and turned that night and just couldn`t sleep. Her mind was running into overtime. Faith.

That name use to bring forth so many emotions before, like anger, pain and hate, but never, comfort, safety, and maybe even love??

She was just so confused and annoyed at the same time. Faith wasn`t making it any easier for her, being all distant and fawning over the injured she wolf. Waiting on her hand and foot,okay so maybe she was being a little over dramtic, seeing as it has only been a few hours ago that they had rescued her.

But still Faiths undivided attention was on `Rhaya`thought Buffy bitterly and she hated to admit it but she was kind of jealous.

With all of those thoughts occupying her mind she finally fell into a restless sleep. Hoping that by morning comes she`ll have a clearer mind.

The next morning

Buffy awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. She yawned and stretched from her restless nights sleep. Her mind was definitely not rested. She took a quick shower, got dressed and headed downstairs hoping that a cup of coffee would somewhat relax her or just clear her thoughts for awhile.

Upon entering the kitchen she saw Willow and Tara making breakfast together and what had her attention the most was the new occupant sitting at the breakfast nook.

And Faith right besides her. She still had the same clothes on from last night. Her black skin tight leather pants and white wife beater combo. Her leather jacket apparently was being worn by the now rescued She Wolf.

She internally scowled at `Rhaya`.

But at least she had on the clothes Buffy left behind. She made sure it was the most plainest and simplest of clothes she had .A pair of thin grey sweats and a plain black t-shirt.

What Buffy didn`t count on was how she`d actually fill it out and make those plain clothes look so good. The grey sweats showed of her figure and curves and the t-shirt was slightly too small making it a tight fit around her chest area.

"Oh, morning Buffy, "said Tara smiling in her normal cheerful way."Morning, "said Buffy forcing a smile. And then proceeded pouring herself a cup of coffee. Breathing in the coffee aroma as she took a sip and sighed.

Willow and Tara were making blueberry,why? She didn`t remember them ever making it before."Blue berry pancakes?"She asked with a raised eye brow as she took a seat opposite Faith and Rhaya.

Tara smiled and said,"Yeah, I decided to make something different today and plus they`re Faiths` favourite."And she turned back to the stove and helped Willow who was grateful to be relieved of her duty of flipping the pancakes.

"I didn`t know you liked blue Berry pancakes, "said Buffy looking at Faith. Faith looked at her strangely and so did the others. She put down her orange juice and said, "Why would you?"And frowned at Buffy's strange behaviour.

The tension in the room returned and Willow decided to break it by telling them about the meeting later on that morning."Well I called Giles last night and filled him in on what happened. He called a meeting for later this morning at the magic box. So we should all maybe meet around eleven or so."She said turning around to pour some coffee for herself.

"Yeah,"said Buffy nodding her head and then turning to look at the She Wolf who was quietly observing everything since Buffy entered the kitchen. She smiled slightly at the girl trying not to seem rude or bitchy.

"Well, I guess you already figured out that we were the ones that rescued you."When she just nodded Buffy continued, "And you now know our names, I guess. So are you going to tell us how you got captured by this Yuri guy?"She asked raising her eye brows slightly.

She cracked a slight smile at Buffy saying the wrong name. She then spoke, her voice sounded smooth and silky, almost velvety, and it seemed to capture everyone's attention."Yurick Novak, "she corrected and Willow piped in saying, "She's not good with names."

Buffy rolled her eyes at Willows defence for her and said, "Okay, whatever, Yurick Novak. How did you end up being captured by him and why?"She said now just wanting answers. "He had captured me while I was without my pack. At that time I was not even in the states."

"Whoa, wait a minute. What do you mean not in the states??"Asked Faith speaking up for the first time looking directly into Rhayas eyes. For a minute all Rhaya could do was stare into the dark Slayers eyes.

They were so mesmerising to the She Wolf. She herself had light almost hazel brown eyes but Faiths deep brown eyes made her feel like she could drown in them forever. They held so much of hidden emotions and she could tell it had something to do with the tiny blonde Slayer.

It was like a sixth sense or maybe seventh in her case. Rhaya had been watching Faith silently since they entered the kitchen when she had awoken. Her body tensed immediately when the blonde entered the kitchen. There was something definitely going on between the two but she had to worry about the rest of her pack first.

"Yes, "she replied still looking deeply into Faiths eyes as if though she could see through her soul and it wasn`t even unnerving to Faith. She felt calm and strangely relaxed in her presence. Buffy on the other hand wanted to break their little staring contest immediately.

"Okay!"She said in a surprisingly high pitched voice and it broke everyone out of their staring. Everyone looked at Buffy questionly."What?"She asked feeling uncomfortable at everyone looking at her like she was crazy.

Rhaya decided to divert the questioning looks away from Buffy and explain her story further."I was in Spain at that time and he had been hunting my kind for a while. I had been trying to lead him away from my pack but ended up being caught in the process."

She seemed to need to take a minute to breathe before carrying on because her voice cracked slightly as she continued."He wanted me to call them and lead them into a trap he had set up. He wanted to do some kind of ritual and he needed a whole pack of werewolves and their Alpha. But I refused. That`s when the torture started and after two weeks of trying to get me to comply he locked me in a steel crate and shipped me off to the states."

Everyone listened to her story with their full attention but Buffy couldn`t help but notice how Faiths hand was intertwined with Rhayas as she spoke. The She Wolf seemed to be gaining strength and comfort through it as she told her story.

But Buffy couldn`t help feeling a stinging sensation in her heart for some reason. She shook her head slightly out of these thoughts and returned her attention to the story.

"I know that he kept me somewhere in LA for the first month. They would all take turns torturing me but I would not betray my pack. While we were in LA he had mentioned looking for an amulet or talisman that would grant him the power to unleash the ultimate evil.

I can only remember a few other details but I had mostly been unconscious or being chained up and beaten until I would comply, which I hadn`t done. But thanks to you both I`m finally free. I have to stop him before he can continue with the ritual. I have a feeling that something had happened the night you two rescued me."

"What do you mean?"Asked Willow leaning against the breakfast nook with a frown."When the Slayers were both fighting Yurick I could`ve sworn I felt my pack nearby, but that would be impossible. It felt like an energy shift in the atmosphere. "She said now frowning thinking about what she had really felt.

"Don`t worry, we`ll help you fight this guy, "said Faith breaking the silence looking at Rhaya."Thank you Faith, "she said smiling at Faith making her smile automatically back, dimples and all.

`Argh! Look at her smiling at my Faith...My Faith?!!`Thought Buffy wide eyed.' Where the hell did that come from?!`Shaking her head almost violently she snapped out of those crazy thoughts.

"B? Are you okay??"Asked Faith who was now frowning at Buffy who she saw shaking her head just a few seconds ago like a crazy person."Err...yeah I`m fine, um...We`ll definitely be helping you Rhaya,"said Buffy now looking in her direction, "the guy totally kicked our butts and we need to find out how he was able to do that. I mean I couldn`t even land one single punch on him."

Faith nodded in agreement."Yeah, it was like we were just hittin` air or somethin`."She added looking at Buffy and Buffy's heart skipped a beat she was definitely falling for Faith again.

Back in high school it was easier to push those feelings aside, with Angel and everything else going on around her. But now she had to face her feelings head on for the first time and there was no denying it this time.

"Okay, so we`ll research this all later today at the magic Box, "said Willow getting nods from everyone and then Faith spoke up."Yeah, I`ll meet you guys there later on. But right now I think we need to get Rhaya here some new clothes."

"Oh, no this is fine, "she said frowning at Faith not wanting to burden her."Please, Bs` clothes are way too small for ya and I bet you want ta at least have some real clothes on after, well ya know...."she said with a raise of her eyebrows and Rhaya nodded her head in understanding.

"Okay, but only if it`s not an inconvienience."She said seriously. Faith grinned almost mischievously and said with a twinkle in her eyes,"Oh, it will definitely be my pleasure."

Even though Rhaya could tell there was something between the two Slayers, right now it seemed that Faith was flirting with her and this could also be what she would do with everyone else. But she didn`t mind it one bit.

Faith was a breath of fresh air and after being tortured for three months and maybe even longer as she stopped counting after the first month she couldn`t help but find Faith very alluring.

All the bruises on her face had faded away almost completely and she smiled back at Faith with a smile that Faith was sure stopped many men and even women in their tracks. It was a very sexy smile that made her weak in the knees.

There was also only one other person who could smile at her like that and make her weak at the knees but she wasn`t even going to go there.

Deciding to have some fun for once she responded to the sexy smile with one of her own and she could tell it had an effect on the She Wolf and looped an arm around hers and began to exit the kitchen through the back door.

Turning around slightly she looked at Willow and Tara and grinned, "Thanks for the breakfast you guys, see ya later B."She winked and then she was gone.

Buffy was just staring at the back door willing Faith to come back with her mind, excluding Rhaya of course. Willow and Tara saw her just staring and they had a silent conversation with their eyes. Tara nodded her head and left the kitchen and Willow looked at her best friend and sighed.

"Ya know Buff if looks could kill I think Rhaya woulda been one dead She Wolf by now, "she said snapping Buffy out of her staring contest with the back door."What?"She asked confused. Willow rolled her eyes at Buffy,' she could be such a spaz sometimes,' thought Willow to herself.

"I`m talking about how you were glaring at Rhaya the whole time while she was holding Faiths hand. You know if you do have feelings for Faith I think you should tell her, "she said slyly and carried on pushing Buffy's buttons, "because from the looks they were giving each other and the subtle or not so subtle flirting going on I`m surprised the kitchen wasn`t set on fire."

She could see Buffy clenching her fists and her jaw. She looked at Willow dead in the eyes and said,"...FAITH."Through clenched teeth. Willow didn`t even blink at that revelation and continued, "If you say so. But don`t you think they make a cute couple though?"

She grinned at Buffy and she could tell Buffy was about to blow her top at any moment. But right at that moment Dawn stormed into the kitchen .Buffy had never in her life been that thankful for her annoying little sister as she was right now.

Breathing a sigh of relief she looked at Dawn who was fixing up her school bag angrily."What's with the angry frown Dawnie?"Asked Willow who now began to clean up the kitchen.

"Well I`m about to be late for school again thanks to someone who finished all the hot water!"She glared in Buffy direction but Buffy just looked at her non pulsed."Oh and the best part, after school I get to pick up trash all day around Sunnydale, "she said sarcastically.

"Why would you volunteer to pick up trash then?"Asked Willow turning around to look at Dawn. Dawn stopped stuffing her bag and looked at Willow huffing angrily."That`s the thing!!I didn`t sign up for it, they said someone volunteered me!!Whoever it was is so going to pay!!"She said as menacingly as possible and she reminded Willow a bit of Buffy.

"Well have fun picking up trash after school Dawnie,"said Buffy standing up and smirking as she placed her mug in the dawned no pun intended on Dawn.

"It was you?!"She shouted wide eyed."Well yes, I'm just looking out for the environment and if I have to offer them my little sisters help to do it, then so be it, "said Buffy who was still smirking with her arms crossed. A vein on Dawns forehead began to throb and it just amused Buffy even more.

She began pushing her out the door."Don`t want to be late now! Have a great day in school!!"And with that she shut the back door in her sisters' face and turned around smiling at Willow.

"That was really mean of you Buff," said Willow who couldn`t stop the small smile forming on her face. They both ended up laughing at what just happened and the priceless look on Dawns face, but it only settled the tensions of that morning for a little while anyway.

The day was still so far from over and Buffy would find herself faced with many of her hidden feelings. This time they would be very hard for her to avoid and hard to hide it from everybody else.

Please review and tell me what you think.

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	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I Don`t Own Anything.

Sorry for taking so long to update!!:[

Chapter 16

Buffy, Willow, Tara, Xander and Giles were all at the Magic Box. They had arrived about half an hour ago and Faith and Rhaya had still not shown up.

"What do you think is taking them so long?"Asked Buffy who clearly sounded aggravated."I mean they`ve been out for almost four hours?!"

"Well Buff, you ladies do take a long time when it comes to shopping, especially clothes shopping. Trust me I`d know from all the years we`ve been friends, "said Xander helping Giles sort out some books.

Buffy glared at him and said,"Yeah, well they were only buying her a few things not a whole frickin`new wardrobe!"She shouted and threw her hands up in frustration.

Xander just stared at Buffys` outburst and frowned slightly,' Why was Buffy acting strangely,' he wondered.

"Well I for one would like to know where Faith is getting all the money to buy her a new wardrobe. It is very generous of her and I`d now like to be her friend as well. We could be friends with benifits."Said Anya from behind the counter where she was counting the money,as usual.

Everything happened simultaneously after she said that. Willow who had been drinking from a water bottle began to choke while Tara began hitting her lightly on the back to help ` eyes bugged out comically and his mind was filled with images that made him have to cross his legs.

Giles spat out his tea and in the process burnt his tongue and began hopping around trying to stop the burning. Buffy just fall out of her chair. After a few minutes everybody settled down and Anya frowned at them all disapprovingly shaking her head.

"Really you all should know not to spit on people, its`s very rude and Xander says I have no tact."She huffed indigently."And Xander why are you crossing your legs?"She questioned loudly and gaining everybody's attention.

Xander turned a hundred shades of red, if that were possible and said in a strangle voice,"An, honey you can`t say things like that.""You mean ask you a question?"She frowned wondering what she had done this time.

"No, about before, you know...About Faith..."he trailed off desperately trying not to let those images come back into his head."Oh,"she said as if a light bulb went off in her head, but then frowned again, "well I only meant that she would buy me clothes in exchange for friendship, it`s not like you buy me anything Xander. You work a minimum wage job and eat our money away with pizza and doughnuts the whole day instead of saving your money..."

He was about to say something to interrupt her because he could not be anymore embarrassed now even if his pants were to drop and everyone were to see his Sponge Bob square pants boxers."An..."

"And Buffy, why are you on the floor? Do you need me to go down in to the basement again and get you that smaller chair? Because you kept slipping out of your chair when you were tiny Buffy but I don`t even see why Giles put that thing away. You obviously need a special chair to sit in due to your tininess."She said bluntly.

Buffy got up from the floor,her eye twitching and glared daggers at Anya. Anya remained unaffected as usual not realising what she said had set of a Slayer, a very pissed off Slayer. Quickly trying to defuse the situation Xander said, "She's just joking Buff, you know how she can be."He said trying to appease the blonde Slayer.

It was not working but Giles clearing his throat and speaking did calm her slightly."Right...Well I for one say we should continue with the research and I`m sure Faith and the She Wolf who Willow had mentioned to me last night will turn up shortly."

He began to clean his glasses with his sleeve and moved books around once more. Everything seemed to have fallen back into its place. They were only about ten minutes into the research when the bell on the magic shops door rang.

Faith was the first to walk in and if the others were looking Buffy seemed to be in a deep trance. She couldn`t take her eyes off the Dark Slayer. She had changed her clothes and had on the most skin tight black skinny jeans Buffy had ever seen.

But she was not complaining at all. It showed off the ex-rogue Slayers body in the most flattering of ways. A black studded belt to go with it and a black ripped tank top with some kind of skulls design on it.

Buffy could clearly see that Faiths time in jail gave her the time to work out alot more. Her abs were more defined but not in a body builder kind of way. She still had that slim figure just more defined. Instead of her heavy makeup she chose something lighter and Buffy couldn`t help but think she looked even more beautiful.

But her slow mo trance of watching Faith enter stopped abruptly as Faith moved to the side and allowed Rhaya to jaws dropped. Including Giles!!

Her hair was still slightly curly from this morning and she looked like she was practically glowing. With a black tapestry vest style Corset, dark blue skinny tight jeans and a pair of killer high heel boots with zips on the sides and that went till mid calf and showed of her long slender legs, Buffy just looked about ready to punch her lights out.

She looked around the room and everyone was in some kind of trance.' Maybe she put a spell on them,' she thought with a deep frown.' For gods sakes!!Even Willow and Tara seemed to be in a trance!!`

She looked back up only to see Faith smiling at the She Wolf affectionately, and was that smile Buffy loved to see, but only directed at her!!

Suddenly Buffy realised that the door to the shop was closed but Rhayas hair seemed to be flying around her like a fuckin` herbal essence commercial! She moved her head from side to side as if though she was in some kind of photo shoot.

Buffy scanned the room like a terminator looking to where all this sudden breeze was coming from.

Anya.

She was standing next to a fan!!And it was blowing directly at Rhaya making her look like she was a model at a photo shoot. Shouting out to Anya who still had her hand on the fan, "Shut the damn fan off already!!"

That seemed to snap everyone out of their trances and the fan switched off immediately. Everybody looked at Buffy like they were all not even staring at Rhaya moment's ago. They gave her strange looks and frowned. She was about to point out to them that they all were just gawking at Rhaya just moments ago but Faith stepped up next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

If anyone had paid any attention to Buffy's face at that moment they would`ve see the way her entire body that was stiff and rigid since Rhaya entered just melted into relaxation immediately when Faith touched her.

`How does Faith do this to her? And just by a simple touch? `She wondered to herself."Are you okay B?"Asked Faith looking at her with concern clearly shown in her eyes. Her husky voice broke Buffy out of her inner musings.

"Huh, er...yeah I`m fine, "she said giving Faith a half smile. The same famous half smile that people loved and couldn`t resist when she sent one their way. She saw the look in Faiths eyes and knew she had gotten the reaction she wanted.

`Take that you Faith stealing She Wolf,' thought Buffy grinning internally to herself.' Let's see if she can get that kind of reaction out of Faith.' She thought smugly to herself already celebrating her victory.

After Faith was given that famous half smile she was a goner. She felt like she was drowning in Buffy's hazel green eyes and she never wanted to be rescued. But like all good things that come into Faiths life, they leave.

The conversation between Buffy and Willow came racing to the front of her mind. It was like someone threw a bucket of ice water on the ex-rogue Slayer and brought her back to reality. Buffy didn`t have feelings for her. She would never have feelings for Faith in a million years. She was the `get some, get gone`kinda girl.

Buffy voice calling out her name brought her back to the present."Are you okay?"She asked Faith back as she saw her mind drift off somewhere. Faith nodded and smiled at Buffy a smile that hid so many unsaid things.

"Yeah, I`m five by five."She took a seat next to Buffy and Rhaya sat on the other side of Faith. So Faith was between Buffy and Rhaya.

Willow who was sitting across from them thought it was kind of fitting for Faith to be in the middle of the two. She just hoped no blood was shed, because even though she was distracted by Rhaya when she entered the shop and which she wouldn`t admit to,she didn`t miss that famous Buffy Summers half smile sent Faiths way.

`You sneaky little Slayer.' thought Willow to herself.

Clearing his throat Giles began to speak."Right, now that everyone is here we can begin without any further interruptions."He looked up at Rhaya and stretched his hand out in greeting."Rupert Giles, Buffy's watcher, "he added unnecessarily.

Buffy had to roll her eyes at that, he always had to be so British. Rhaya smiled politely and introduced herself and then sat down.

She filled Giles in on how she was captured and tortured and how she was moved to the US. She then informed him about the ritual that Yurick intended to perform though she only knew very little about it.

Then Giles questioned her on how he came about having such extraordinary abilities even for a vampire."Yeah, Buffy said he was swatting them around like flies, "interjected Willow looking up from her book.

Buffy huffed indigently from her spot and said, "I just said we couldn`t land one punch on the guy, he was just much faster and stronger than us and kicked our butts, "she mumbled out the last part.

"Potato, potahto,"said Willow shrugging her shoulders."Whatever, but there has to be a reason why he was so strong and fast."Continued Giles from Willows looked like she was in deep concentration and then said slightly frowning, "I might have seen a gem or some kind of jewel imbedded in his chest but my memories of my stay there are quite blurry."

And she continued to frown. Faith wanted to do something to help the She Wolf but what could she do? She wasn`t one for the comforting thing.' That was for people like Red and her girl Tara. 'Thought Faith angrily to herself because she couldn`t do something as simple as giving comfort to someone.

"If you were to see a picture of it would you be able to identify it?"Asked Giles to Rhaya as he began to polish his glasses once again and picked up some more books of a shelf. Rhaya nodded her head slightly and said, "I will try."

`Great,' thought Buffy sarcastically to herself and rolling her eyes discreetly at Rhayas` answer. Faith saw Buffy rolling her eyes from the corner of her eye and couldn`t help but frown at her. Faith had been doing a lot of frowning these past few days.

Buffy caught Faith looking at her with a frown and asked her quietly as not to attract any attention to themselves, "What?" "Nothing, "she said turning back to the book in her hand. But before Buffy could tell her anything else the bell chimed over the door and in ran a smoking blanket.

A smoking blanket that was Spike.

Willow was out of her chair like her ass got burnt and her eyes became black but before she could utter a chant or spell Tara pulled her back down stopping her. Willow shook her head slightly from teh magic coursing through her and got a stern look from Tara in return.

She had the decency to look sheepish but still glared at Spike hoping he`d just burst into flames and judging from the glares being sent his way, besides Tara and Giles he could`ve been dust.

He dusted himself off and saw the various glares being sent his way and smirked."What? No welcome wagon. No good to see ya Spike, long time no see?"When no one responded he sighed and said, "Well can`t blame a bloke for tryin`."

"What do you want Spike?"Asked Giles trying to get to the reason why he was there and also to break the heavy amounts of tension that filled the room."I have information for ya on the new big bad that came in ta` town, but if ya gonna` be like that than I think I oughta` take my information elsewhere, "he grinned evilly.

"Well?"He asked Spike waiting for him to relate the information to them. He just smirked and made his way over to the table where they were researching. He looked at Giles and said, "What's init` for me?"

"The satisfaction that you have helped others, "said Giles looking at him like he had no choice but to play Spikes stupid games. Spike smirked at him and then his eyes fell on Rhaya. He sniffed the air because he got a strange vibe from the gorgeous woman he was looking at.

"A werewolve? I thought ya got rid of that flee bitten mutt back in high school. And now ya have a new addition that so happens ta be another werewolf??"He began to laugh.

Willow really, really wanted to hurt him badly and Tara was having second thoughts about stopping her earlier on. Why did they even keep him around? He was only useful for information and he always played games with them before telling them anything.

It didn`t feel worth it.

"But I aint got nothin` against ya luv."He raked his eyes over what little of Rhayas` body he could see lustfully." I think they are very interstin` creatures."He looked Rhaya over from head to toe and licked his lips then smirked.

"`An when I say interestin I mean, would ya like to come back ta my place after this borin`meetin` is over with?"Before Rhaya could say anything Buffy was out of her chair and picking Spike up by the front of his leather coat.

"Whoa, there luv!!"He grinned at her and his eyes filled with evil mischief, "No need ta get jealous, I still have plenty of room for ya.I knows how you like your space when...."He never got to finish that sentence because Buffy punched him hard in the face.

It split Spikes lip and he spat the blood out at Buffy's feet but still smirked triumphantly at her. He loved seeing the Slayer so worked up, it made his skin crawl and in a good way. Faith on the other hand felt her skin crawl and not in the good way.

The images of her beating Spike into a bloody pulp came to the front of her mind and she so desperately tried to calm that rage down, before it could unleash itself on the bleach blonde vampire before them. But the things he was saying wasn`t helping him in any way.

She clenched her fists under the table. Buffy may not have any kinds of feelings towards her but she wasn`t going to allow Spike to carry on talking to her that way. But after Buffy punched him she realised she didn`t need to be fighting Buffy's battles for her.

In a way she was disappointed but at the same time it proved to her that Buffy didn`t really need her,she never really needed her even before all of this. Her heart dropped at that thought.

"Well luv there`s no need to get so physical. I'm just here ta give ya the info I have but, "he now looked Buffy over with the same if not even more lustful filled eyes and said, "ya can come by later ta my crypt and finish what ya started. Ya know the way."

He threw a bunch of papers on Giles desk and ran out the back door of the magic box with the blanket over his head before anyone could say anything. Buffy just stood there embarrassed and angry.

She couldn`t believe she had ever done anything with him. She felt like throwing up but Giles began to clear his throat and looked all kinds of flustered and embarrassed as well."I believe that the information Spike has left us has proved to be quite useful, "he said holding the papers in his hand which it seemed he had already looked over.

Everybody then calmed down slightly and gave Giles their full attention trying not to let what happened just moments ago distract them."It would seem that this Yurick Novak has the gem of invincibility and the name of this stone seems to have been lost somewhere in the text."

He began stumbling around trying to find the name of the gem but couldn`t find it yet so he continued."The stone would have to be imbedded in his chest thus allowing him to have an unnatural amount of strength and speed even for a vampire."

Faith interrupted and said, "So how the hell do we kill this guy "she asked feeling anxious and wanting answers."I was getting to that, "replied Giles wiping his glasses on his shirt.

"It would seem to be relatively easy. All you would have to do is destroy the gem that would be in his chest. But you then have to get close enough to do it and from what you have said about him, it will be a difficult task."

Buffy shook her head and said, "Don't worry about it Giles, we`ll get him. It's two Slayers against one super vampire. He doesn`t stand a chance."She looked in Faiths direction and smiled at her. Faith smiled back but it was a small one.

She wondered what was wrong with Faith normally she would get excited about fighting and slaying the bad guys. But she seemed to be in her own world and there was sadness in her eyes Buffy had never seen before but one other time.

When Buffy stabbed her.

That thought alone brought a sharp pain to the blonde Slayers heart. She felt her eyes fill with tears but she would not allow the tears to fall.

Faith caught Buffy's eye and it felt like time had stopped. She saw the tears that brimmed the eyes of the blonde Slayer and she frowned in concern but didn`t want to say anything to upset her even more.

Buffy may not have feelings for her like the way she always wished she would but she was still a friend and Faith hated seeing her look so sad. When the meeting was concluded Giles told Buffy and Faith to do a little recon mission later that night on patrol.

Find out what was going on and also to try and find out more about this ritual that Yurick wanted to perform. They had a limited time in order to do this as Rhaya pointed out that there was going to be a full moon in three days time.

"God!!What is it with spells and rituals that they always need a new moon!!?"Shouted Buffy looking up at the ceiling rolling her eyes."Well on a full moon there`s more magical energy in the air and..."Buffy cut Willow off and rolled her eyes, "It was a rhetorical question Wills."

Willow blushed slightly and Tara smiled at the sight. She hadn`t seen this side of Willow in a long time and she missed it.

After both Buffy and Faith agreed to do a little recon that night, Rhaya insisted on coming along. With a fake smile and through clenched teeth Buffy had agreed. But when she saw Rhaya take a hold of Faiths hand as they exited together her mind began to reel.

Willow stood next to the fuming Slayer and put a hand on her shoulder trying to calm her down."Are you okay Buff?"She asked. Nodding her head in the affirmative a slow smile began to creep on her face."If our little miss She Wolf wants to play dirty then so can I."

"But Buff, she didn`t do anything? Are you sure your alright, because you kind of scaring me. And I thought you didn`t have feelings for Faith. Buffy?!Buffy?!"Shouted Willow after the exiting Slayer.' Buffy just walked out on me?!`Thought Willow shocked.' What the hell is she going to do?!`

Tara sighing besides her snapped her out of her thoughts."This is not going to end well, "said Tara to Willow who nodded besides her."Let's just hope no one ends up getting hurt."

`Or their heart broken,`thought Willow to herself.

Thanks for all the reviews so far you guys. I will be putting up the next chapter in a day or two. Buffy will corner Faith and try and seduce her with some funny and awkward results. They end up fighting the bad guys at the end of the day and someone is injured badly.

Please Review. PLEASE. [I am metaphorically begging you on bended knees.] :[


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Anything.

Thanks for all the reviews so far guys!

Chapter 17

It was an hour before sunset and Faith and Rhaya had just arrived at the Summers residence. Buffy had told them to meet her at her house and then they would leave together from there. They had been waiting for fifteen minutes already and Faith was getting impatient.

She decided to go upstairs and see what was taking the blonde Slayer so long. As she reached the door to Buffy's room she saw it was slightly ajar. She pushed the door more open as she heard no sounds of anyone in there.

What she saw made her stop in her tracks and her breath hitch. Buffy was standing there with her back towards Faith clad only in a towel. She seemed to have not noticed Faith yet and she tried to slowly creep out of the room before Buffy could see her.

But she was too late as Buffy spun around and looked directly into Faiths eyes with such intensity it literally froze her in her spot. She didn`t know how she was able to hold her breath in for so long but she was.

The saying,' she took my breath away,' felt kind of literal to Faith in that moment. She couldn`t believe that she was acting like that. Shes` seen plenty of naked girls...`Well none of them were Buffy.' Said a small voice in her head.

"Oh, hey Faith, "said Buffy who seemed to be very calm about Faith seeing her just in a towel, "I didn`t see you there."She began to run a brush threw her wet hair. Faith gulped and she was sure that Buffy had heard it.

There was something in Buffy eyes that made the ex-rogue Slayer feel like running the hell out of there but her feet were glued to the floor. She had the same clothes on from earlier on that day but just this time instead of her jeans she had her leather pants on.

Faith loved fighting in them and it was great for quick movements in her opinion."What are you doing up here?"Asked Buffy moving around her room, like having Faith standing there with her just in a towel was a regular occurrence.

Shaking her head out of the not so wholesome thoughts she was having, Faith replied."Just checkin` up on said you`d be ready ta go when we arrive and you were takin` forever and so I decided ta see if maybe ya fell through the shower drain or somethin, "she joked lamely with a half smirk planted firmly on her face.

Buffy ignored the comment and smiled,"Nope, as you can see I`m fine."She pointed to herself unnecessarily and Faith felt like the air in the room just got a whole lot less."Err...yeah, well I`m just gonna go an` let ya finish up."She was seconds away from sprinting out of Buffys room when Buffy grabbed her arm and looked her in the eye.

"Since when are you shy, Faith?" she asked in a low and seductive voice. Faith felt her mouth become dry and looked back at the blonde Slayer. This was dangerous. She shouldn`t be anywhere near Buffy but Buffy just kept on pulling her back in and giving her mixed signals.

"I`m not, I just thought maybe ya wanted your privacy, "she said now trying to take a step back from Buffy who was closer to her than before. Her body-wash filled all of Faiths senses. Strawberries and a hint of vanilla. It was something she could associate with the blonde Slayer.

It was an overload to her senses.

Buffy pushed her more into the room but very softly and subtly."No, I'm fine. You can wait here for me if you want. I just need to get dressed."Before Faith could answer Buffy had dropped her towel and if Faith jaw dropped to the floor and if she were the fainting type, or Xander she would`ve passed out right then and there.

`Why the hell was Buffy doing this to her?!!`Thought Faith frantically to herself and averted her eyes.' It was like pure torture and the little blonde sure knew how to torture Faith with something she could never have. `Damn her!' thought Faith angrily and desperately trying not to look at her fellow sister slayer who was prancing around her room buck naked.

"Okay, I`m almost done, "announced Buffy who had been watching Faith the whole time out of the corner of her eye. She grinned internally seeing Faith squirm.

Faith tried covering her eyes but if Buffy caught her than she`d ask her again why she was acting so unFaith like and she did not want to get into that. Buffy began putting on her underwear and bra on ever so slowly and Faith could`ve sworn she saw Buffy smirking at her.

`But why would Buffy be trying to tease her like that? `She wondered to herself with a deep frown. After Buffy finally got her underwear and then the rest of her clothes on she walked towards Faith smiling coyly.

`What the fuck?!`She thought. Buffy really must have hit her head hard somewhere because she was acting really strangely. As she sat down next to Faith she turned Faiths hand around and began tracing her lines on her palm. Faith felt as if though her heart would leap out of her chest at that moment from how fast it was many things were happening to her body with just the simple touch of felt like she was both in heaven and hell.

"You know, we could cut patrol short and come back here and, "Faith pulled her hand away from Buffys` hand like it was on fire before she could finish what she was going to say."What the fuck B?!!"Shouted Faith looking at the blonde Slayer wide eyed. Her breathing slightly irregular and her eyes were still wide.

"Faith, what`s wrong?"Buffy asked now standing up from where they were sitting together just moments ago. She was confused and angry at why Faith was acting so distant with her."What`s wrong?!"She laughed bitterly."You were fuckin comin` on ta me and you`re askin` me what`s wrong?!!"She stared incrudeoulsly at Buffy. But Buffy just looked back at her equally as confused and shocked.

"I thought this is what you wanted!!"She shouted and then her eyes became wide at what she just said."How would you know what I want, huh?!"She asked harshly, not intending for it to sound so harsh but it being harsh none the less.

Buffy felt taken aback. Faith was very angry and the rage in her eyes could prove that.' But why? She knew that Faith had feelings for her. It was just something she could tell, could feel whenever they were around each other. It wasn`t just the Slayer connection and she could finally admit that to herself.' She felt like her brain was spinning out of control and getting no answers in return.

"I don`t understand??"Said Buffy sighing pathetically, her visage of cool, calm and collected cracking slightly and looking the picture of utter confusion. Faith wasn`t going to give into that look or Buffy this time. She was hurt and angry at herself for letting Buffy play her like that.

"What`s there to understand? I`m the `get some get gone`kinda girl and I aint interested in gettin` in any kind of relationship, an` especially not with some holier than thou bitch who thinks the world revolves around her."Buffy felt her eyes pool with unshed tears as she frowned at Faith.

She felt like a lightning bolt struck her. Faith must have overheard her conversation with Willow in the training room of the magic box .She immediately wanted to set it right and tell Faith that what she heard was wrong and she didn`t mean what she had said. She wanted to confess to the other Slayer what she truly meant but just as Buffy was about to say something Dawn interrupted and Buffy felt the life drain out of her.

"Jeez, you guys are taking your own sweet time. Sorry to say this Buffy but no matter how much make-up you apply it won`t help you. So hurry up already!!" With that she took off back down stairs.

Faith turned around to look at Buffy and had on the most serious look on her face Buffy had ever seen."You and I, we`ll never be anything` more than sister Slayers, heck we use to be enemies not too long ago. We hardly even friends!"Buffy interrupts her to protest her disagreement."But we are friends!!"She shouts feeling her voice crack slightly."I got over everything that had happened between us in the past. I forgave you for what you did..."

Faith looked down at that. It's true that Buffy and the rest of the Scooby gang had forgiven her but at what price? Just like Buffy would they always use their forgiveness against her? That thought alone made her even angrier.

"I didn`t ask you to forgive me! You did that on your own."She felt like she was going down that same dark path again and who was the one guiding her right down it? None other than Buffy fuckin`Summers once again.

"I know!!"She shouted and she knew that everyone downstairs must`ve heard her but she wasn`t going to stop."I wanted to forgive you, I saw the changes in you and I wanted us to be the way we were before."She whispered the last part softly to herself looking down feeling ashamed.

Ashamed that she had tried using her forgiveness against Faith and shame for trying to corner her into having feeling for her by practically throwing her naked body at the ex-rogue Slayer.

So many conflicting emotions ran through Faith. Did Buffy have feelings for her? Why was she only telling her this now and last but most importantly, was she really ready to have her heart broken again by the very same person who broke it in the first place.

Faith swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to hide the emotions out of her voice and eyes but it was useless. Her eyes betrayed her and so did her voice. It sounded raspier and more broken then Buffy had ever heard it. "We can`t ever go back to the way things were before B..."She didn`t want to see the reaction on Buffy's ` face after she said that and just turned around and left.

Buffy could`ve sworn she heard something shatter. And that sound would`ve been her heart breaking into a million pieces. She felt like curling up into a ball and crying her eyes out but she clenched her fists and took a deep breath. She couldn`t do that, because she was the Slayer and her personal life would always take a back to seat to everything else. And tonight she couldn`t allow her emotions to cloud her judgements.

She would do what she always did when it came to her life. She would put her personal life in the back of her mind and do the right thing. And that would be going downstairs and doing a recon mission with a person she came to loathe and another who just broke her heart moments ago.

It`s a short chapter but I`ll try to update as soon as I can.

PLEASE REVIEW! LOVE READING WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Anything.

Chapter 18

The tension in the air was thick. They had been doing a quick sweep of the nearby cemeteries and had found nothing unusual other than a few freshly risen vampires. Activity seemed to be low and it put everyone on edge. But mostly it was the awkward and stiff silence that was going on between the Chosen Two that made everything seem more uncomfortable and uneasy.

Rhaya was no fool. She knew what was going on between the two Slayers and had heard everything that was said upstairs. It was something that she couldn`t have helped. Sometimes having such super hearing was a gift and a curse.

She will admit that she had grown very fond of Faith since the moment she had laid eyes on her. She saw Faith as a kindled spirit. She saw herself in the younger Slayers eyes and couldn`t help but feel drawn to her. Faith reminded her of so many things she had forgotten about herself and after being rescued by her, a new fire was lit within herself.

She could not help but feel slightly envious of Buffy. But she knew Faith had an unrequited love with Buffy,she knew how that felt. If only the two of them would stop fighting long enough to actually see what was right in front of their eyes. It was beautiful and meant to be. She would go as far as to say that it was written in the stars. It was destiny.

She would`ve taken the first opportunity to be with Faith if she hadn`t recognised the look in Faiths eyes to be the very same look she had for a certain other She Wolf in her pack. A She Wolf she turned. It was an accident and purely out of self had no idea that the other girl had no intentions of harming her but at the time her natural instincts to protect herself kicked in. She had felt guilty ever since. She had taken away her chance at a normal life and she would never forgive herself for it.

Faith looked over at Rhaya who had been unusually quite. Obviously she could sense the tension in the air and everyone seemed to be on edge but she seemed to be distracted by other thoughts. They were now walking near the more industrial areas of Sunnydale. Buffy was a good few feet ahead of them as Faith and Rhaya walked side by side behind her.

She put her hand on Rhayas` shoulder to bring her out of her thoughts. Rhaya snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Faith with a faint smile. And Faith couldn`t help but return it with a faint smile of her own.

Buffy wasn`t really walking directly in front of them, but more towards the side and saw the interaction between the two. It hurt. She felt her eyes sting slightly but she held it in. She just wanted to turn around and scream at Faith and ask her why she didn`t want to be with her. Why did she have to make things so complicated. Their relationship was already complicated at best, so why was she being so stubborn?

She could hear them talking thanks to her slayer hearing and the fact that they thought that she wasn`t paying attention.

"Are ya okay?"Asked Faith frowning slightly. She knew only a few things about Rhaya past but she had told Faith that very afternoon when they were out buying her some new clothes that Faith reminded her a lot of herself.

She didn`t understand what she meant by that but she soon would."I am fine, "she replied in that same calming and velvety voice."I am just worried because I feel, "she place a hand over her heart," as if though my pack is nearby and it just could not be possible."She said looking worried and Faith saw how much she cared about the rest of the wolves in her pack.

She reminded Faith of a certain blonde Slayer who she was currently not talking to."Don`t ya worry. Whatever is goin` on we`ll still be kickin` their asses and savin` the day. It's what we do." She said sounding very cocky and winking at Rhaya. And Rhaya couldn`t help but let Faiths positive attitude rub off on her. [Don`t have a gutter mind;] It was infectious.

Rhaya and Faith noticed that Buffy seemed to be very far ahead and frowned at each other because they didn`t even realise it. They both increased their speed and tried to catch up to the other Slayer.

`Oh! So now they realise that I hadn`t been walking with them anymore?!`She thought sarcastically to herself. Maybe she was bitter but who could blame her? Faith and Rhaya were completely in their own world and didn`t even notice that she was gone for quite some time.

They both finally caught up with Buffy and looked at her like she was crazy to have just left them behind. She rolled her eyes at them and said."It wasn`t my fault you two got left behind. I wasn`t the one getting distracted by the other. If you were more alert, then you would`ve realised that I was already long gone."And with that Buffy began walking off and slowly making her way into an abandoned warehouse that was making her Slayer radar go crazy.

Faith wanted to say something but she also felt her Slayers tingles going crazy and knew that there were a lot of vampires nearby and the way Rhaya seemed to react, Faith was sure if she had her ears out that it would have perked up.

They all were crouching against a ,Faith and then Rhaya as they made their way into the warehouse and the side door seemed to be left open. They had to be careful. Faith had a bad feeling that something bad was going to happen. It was just a gut feeling and she always knew to trust her gut feelings. It had saved her life many times.

They moved deeper into the warehouse and heard voices. They crouched behind some steel crates and looked over it. Near the back of the warehouse against a long wall there were about five men and four women chained up. Their arms were chained up high and their feet tied up with more chains. Rhaya almost leapt over the crates if it wasn`t for Faith.

She grabbed her from around the waist and held her down tightly against herself. She saw the way Rhayas eyes became wide as soon as her eyes landed on the people chained up and then saw the panic and fear in them when it landed on a particular female in the group. She knew that look anywhere.

She had the same look of panic in her eyes when she saw Spike on top of Buffy in that cemetery days ago but hers was lined with anger and hate as well. She then immediately realised what Rhaya had meant when she had said Faith had reminded her of herself.

"Let me go Faith!!"she whispered harshly trying to wriggle out of Faiths grasp but Faith had an iron grip around her waist."No!!"She whispered back just as harshly to her and frowning angrily. Buffy didn`t like how close the two of them were and had to clench her fists before she did something she would regret.

"You`ll get us all killed if I let you go, "she replied through clenched teeth. She felt Rhaya slightly relax in her grip but she was still tensed. She sighed internally, Rhaya was really strong but Faith wasn`t about to tell her that.

Faith counted around fifteen maybe even twenty vampires but her senses told her that there were more around somewhere. But she didn`t see Yurick anywhere and she was sure this place was just where he was holding Rhayas pack till it was time for the ritual. They couldn`t do anything at the moment. Yes there were two Slayers and one recovered, strong and very pissed off She Wolf but they wouldn`t stand a chance with only the few stakes they had brought.

Yurick seemed to have put a heavy guard on the other werewolves so they obviously were very important to the ritual and they would rescue them but they had to get back and regroup first.

A vampire began to take out a whip and lashed out at a pretty dark haired woman with blue eyes and a fair and creamy complexion. She cried out and the other vampires began to laugh. He lashed out at her again and she tried to hold back a scream but he pressed down on her wound making her cry out in agony.

"Hey!"shouted another vampire who looked like he was incharge,"the boss said not to kill any of them or else you`ll be joining them as well.""Yeah, yeah, I`m just teaching her a lesson. Bitch bit me and almost ripped my chest open!"He snarled and then punched her in the stomach making her cough out blood. He growled at the smell of the blood but the others stopped him from doing anything.

"Tatiana..."Whispered Rhaya on the verge of tears and choking back a sob. She had used almost all of her strength to pull out of Faiths grasp but Faith was just as strong and was not going to let go and let them end up dead and then they wouldn`t be rescuing anyone then.

Faiths heart went out to Rhaya and she couldn`t imagine what it would be like to see somebody you cared about, maybe even loved being hurt and tortured like that and not being able to do anything about it.

But then suddenly Buffy did something that was so unlike her. She charged in, reminding Faith of the way she use to slay back before everything turned sour. `Take `em hard and fast.' Charging in without a plan or back up. But at this moment that was not a good thing to do. She wasn`t the same person she was before and she knew that, that kind of thinking style had almost gotten her killed many times before and Buffy had to save her ass.`But not that many times.' She added just to herself.

She suddenly felt like a Mac truck had hit her. The consequences of Buffy's actions hit her, and with eyes wide filled with pure panic and an unidentified emotion she jumped over the steel crate and into the fray. ` Buffy was cornered by three vampires and still busy fighting another and a shitload more advancing towards her. `Fuck. `Was all Faith thought at that moment. She tried making her way over to Buffy but now the other vampires saw her and started running towards her.

She dodged an incoming punch and returned it with one of her own. She head butted the one holding her from behind spinning around and staking him so quickly he didn`t have the time to react. And she didn`t have the time however to react when another vampire kicked her in her ribs sending her skidding across the concrete floor.

But she quickly got back up and then was surrounded by five more vampires making a circle around her. They all looked like they were about to have the best feast of their undead lives."Slayer!!"Growled the vampire standing directly in front of her.

Before Faith or the vampires could do anything Rhaya landed in the centre of the circle standing back to back with Faith. It was like they were having a silent conversation and then they both advanced at the same time. It was like they were one. Rhaya kicked the vampire in front of her in the chest and then elbowed the one coming in from the side then dusted the other who just got up without even breaking her stride. Faith moved with a swift grace many never knew she possessed and staked another vampire. They had managed to take out the five vampires without much trouble but something didn`t feel right.

`B!!`She used her slayer connection with Buffy and almost got whip lash from turning her head around so fast. She was surrounded by five maybe six vampires and a huge vampire around seven foot tall with a shiny dagger in his hand was advancing on Buffy from behind and Buffy didn`t even realise it.

Her heart was racing so fast from the panic and fear that she absently wondered why it hadn`t exploded in her chest yet. Buffy was on the other side of the warehouse where the werewolves were chained up. She could`ve shouted out a warning to Buffy but she might hear it her over the sounds of the fighting even with slayer hearing.

She scanned her surroundings and saw a conveyer belt hanging from the ceiling and jumped on it and used it to glide across the warehouse. She kicked incoming vampires out of her way only one destination in had to save Buffy and the vampire with the knife was just seconds away from her.

She threw her body against Buffys and pushed her out of the way but the vampire who was about to stab Buffy may have missed his target but he still got a Slayer. The knife was deeply imbedded in her shoulder but she hardly felt the pain.

Saving Buffy was her priority and nothing else. Buffy lifted Faith of off her and saw the dagger protruding out of her shoulder. She stared wide eyed and in shock. She gasped when she felt a warm liquid dripping on her hands.

Blood. Faiths blood.

She didn`t stop the tears this time and allowed them to flow. She always ended up with Faiths blood on her hands and that thought alone made her want to break down and throw up at the same time in disgust with herself.

But a warm hand on her cheeck stopped her from doing any of that. Faith was looking at Buffy with such an intensity of emotions that Buffy felt like she got the wind knocked out of her. Her intense gaze felt like it was penetrating to her very soul. Then she spoke,"B,we gotta get outta here..."and began to stand up and shouted out in pain as she pulled the dagger out of her shoulder only making her wound bleed even more.

Buffy quickly took off her jacket and applied pressure to Faiths wound and also to stop her from bleeding out to much. They saw Rhaya talking to one of the chained up werewolves and crying. They heard her promise that she would come back and rescue them all.

Then Rhaya got up and made her way to Faith and Buffy and they all retreated back out of the warehouse. They had to move fast but Faiths shoulder was slowing her down and so they had to help her walk faster.

As they got further and further away Rhayas` heart ached for the rest of her pack and a certain other She Wolf who had captured her heart.

Buffy was internally chastising herself for being so impulsive and putting everyone else in danger. And her heart was laden with guilt for having Faiths blood once again on her hands.

Faith felt many that they because she couldn`t save the rest of Rhayas` pack but most of all she was grateful that Buffy hadn`t gotten hurt, or worse ...Killed.' If I had been a few seconds late that dagger would`ve stabbed Buffy right in the heart.' She shook her head out of those morbid thoughts and suddenly feeling dizzy.`Oh man...`she thought knowing what was going to happen.

They were about a good distance away and were safe. She decided to interrupt them and warn them about what was about to happen."Err...um, guys....I think I`m gonna pass out now, so if ya wanna get ready and catch me, ya better do it now..."And with that her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell into Buffys awaiting arms.

Tbc

Okay more action is still about to come so stay tuned.

PLEASE REVIEW.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing.

Thanks for the reviews so far. Sorry for taking so long to update.

Chapter 19

When they finally reached Buffys house they both felt relieved. Faith was very still during the whole walk back as Buffy had carried her and had not once stirred. It scared them both because she looked so pale and had lost a lot of blood. When they entered the house Buffy immediately laid her down on the couch and left to go get the first aid kit and call Giles over.

Just then Tara and Willow came downstairs and saw Rhaya sitting on the couch next to an unconscious Faith. They both became alarmed thinking the worse."What happened?"Asked Tara her voice filled with fear and concern. Before Rhaya could answer Buffy came back with the first aid kit."Giles is on his way, "she said kneeling in front of Faith as Rhaya moved away.

"What happened? Is she going to be okay??"Asked Willow frowning in concern and it looked like she was about to go into babble mode as she saw that the others also looked a bit roughed up but not as bad as Faith.

Buffy remained silent trying to stop the bleeding and then getting Faith stitched up. Both Tara and Willow frowned at Buffys behaviour."Buffy, what`s going on? What happened tonight??"Willow asked now more firmly and had the resolve face on. But thanks to the door bell she was saved from answering that question, yet.

Tara went to go answer but Willow remained in the same place and kept on looking at Buffy her frown deepening. When Giles entered the room he immediately went into watcher mode and examined Faith. He looked relieved when he saw that Faith was just unconscious and the Slayer healing was already kicking in. He got up and began to clean his glasses and then spoke up."Would you care to explain why Faith is injured and why she is injured??"He questioned looking sternly at his Slayer who looked down ashamed.

She sighed and after a few seconds she replied."I...err...I did something stupid and instead of it just being a recon mission I charged in there without thinking..."Giles looked taken aback because he`s never seen his slayer look so sad and have so much of grief on her face since her returning from the dead. But what seemed to stand out the most was the guilt in her eyes. Now more gently and more fatherly he place a hand on her shoulder and asked her what had happened.

She explained what had happened when they were at the warehouse and with the chained up werewolves that were indeed from Rhayas`pack and that one of the vampires had been torturing them. She said that she didn`t understand why she just charged in there with no back up and no other weapons besides a few measly stakes,but she did.

Giles began to rub his temples and sighed heavily. What Buffy had done was very foolish and that had put all three of them in danger. He could see how remorseful she was but it did not change the fact that she had endangered their lives.

"Giles, I`m sorry, I..."her voice cracked slightly when she looked at Faith lying on the couch. He would not know how sorry she really was."Now it is not the time for apologies, "he said as gently as he could with a soft look upon his face. Buffy looked guilty enough for everyone else in the room and he didn`t need to make her feel any worse than she did."We need to regroup and you need to tell me in exact detail what you had seen. Were there any kinds of ritual drawings on the floor or maybe a mystic among them?"He took out a book from somewhere in his jacket pocket and everyone looked at him weirdly.' How did he carry such a big book in his tiny pocket?!`Was what they all wondered.

He just looked at them and shrugged. That threw all of them off. Even Rhaya! Giles was being so unGiles like...`that seemed to be the pattern tonight.' Buffy wryly thought to herself."As I was saying, "he continued after the strange looks he got, "We will all reconvene tomorrow at noon at the magic box and maybe Faith could fill in some blanks that Buffy might not have seen."Buffy looked like she was about to say something but thought better of it and remained silent. When there were no questions or further inquiries Giles had bid them a goodnight and they were all certain that book in his pocket became two and that he would be up all night researching anything he could come up with on how Rhayas` pack got here so suddenly.

"Well I guess we all should get some shut eye."Said Willow. They all nodded except for Buffy."Buff aren`t you coming?"She asked frowning slightly."No, I err...I`m going to stay down here in case Faiths wakes up."She looked up at them and then at Rhaya."Rhaya you can take Dawns room for the night, she`s at a sleepover." "I do not wish to impose," she interjected immediately not wanting to take advantage of her host."No, no, don`t worry about it. It's no problem. I would offer you my room but it`s a pigsty at the moment and I made Dawn clean her room before she left so thats the safest place to be sleeping tonight."She gave a lopsided smile that felt half hearted but Rhaya understood that she just wanted to be there when Faith woke up.

She nodded her head and smiled gratefully at the blonde slayer and then she and the two witches made their way upstairs after exchanging goodnights. Buffy sighed heavily rubbing her temples. Her eyes fell on the dark Slayer unconscious on her couch. The pain in her chest increased tenfold and she felt like crying once again.

She sat next to Faith on the couch and couldn`t but notice how unguarded and innocent she looked while she was asleep. When she was awake her eyes were always guarded and catious, always looking for signs of dangeror kept walls around herself and nobody got see the real Faith underneath. She felt so free looking at Faith in that moment and couldn`t help but run her hands through the dark Slayers slightly curly chocolate brown hair. It was everything she imagined. Soft and silky, her hands just glided through it. Faith began to stir in her sleep and Buffy froze with her hand still in Faiths hair, but Faith remained unconscious and only sighed in sighed with relief and then got a faint smell of roses which had to be from Faiths` shampoo.

She studied her dark counter parts` face with an intense gaze. Her eyelids, her cheeks, her jaw line, her lips...She looked at her lips a little too long and blushed at the not so clean thoughts she was having and then felt disgusted at herself for looking at Faith like some kind of creepy pervert.

She squeezed in next to Faith and lied down with her on the couch. She was in front and Faith was behind her. It was a tight but snugly fit and with Faith unconsciously spooning her from behind. She brought Faiths arm around her waist and held it against her stomach. She hoped that she could get some sleep eventually tonight, but doubted it. But with Faith in such close proximity and Buffy holding her arm around her waist she drifted off into a semi peaceful slumber.

After a couple of hours, she wasn`t sure but it looked to be early morning Faith stirred and blinked open her eyes. She felt disorientated and didn`t know where she was but one thing was for sure, she wasn`t alone. She felt a warm body pressed into her and apparently she was spooning the person. `Fuck, I don`t spoon?!` Frowned Faith.

Then suddenly she had a flashback of the night before. The warehouse, Buffy charging in without thinking. Then fighting too many vampires to count, getting stabbed saving Buffy. Stabbing and Buffy seemed to be something that always goes together whenever she was around the blonde slayer. She rolled her eyes internally at herself. She recognised where she was suddenly, on the couch in the Summers living room and apparently Buffy decided to bunk with Faith.`Damn even in prison ya at least get some space when ya sleep.' She thought feeling a bit of anger buildimg inside of herself.

Yes she was glad, even happy that Buffy was safe and unhurt but she couldn`t help but now feel her anger rise because of Buffy's stupid decision to just jump into the warehouse like that. She felt Buffy stir and remained still holding her breath. She knew Buffy was awake but Buffy didn`t turn around and look at her to see if she was awake.

She began to rub circles on Faiths arm and she couldn`t help but let her eyes close at the sensation. Then she heard Buffy sniffle and her eyes immediately snapped open.' Was B crying?!`But before she could make Buffy aware that she was awake she began to talk to the sleeping Faith unbeknownst to her was wide awake.

"I`m..."Her voice cracked slightly and she heard her swallow."I`m so, so sorry. It seems that whenever something bad happens to you it`s always my fault...And I`m so sorry I keep on causing you so much of pain. I never meant for you to get hurt, or anyone else for that matter...."She took a deep breath and sniffled and still spoke in a soft and hushed voice she was using as if though a louder voice would break her out of what she wanted to say."I`m sorry that I`ve been so jealous of you and Rhaya and it distracted me and I didn`t think properly...I really don`t deserve you.I`m so sorry..."

Faith lied there on the couch frozen and wide eyed. `SHIT! `She had always wanted Buffy to admit these things to her but now that she had finally heard them she felt like running faster then she had ever did in her life. She wasn`t the commitment type or dating material. But when she felt Buffy's shoulders shaking and then hearing her trying to stifle her sobs she couldn`t help but feel like it was her fault. She tightened her grip on Buffy and she felt but more like heard Buffy stop crying."Faith...?"Whispered Buffy timidly and sounding like a scared child.

Faith didn`t answer her and Buffy just let it go. Buffy relaxed now more into Faiths embrace and Faith couldn`t but help feel that this felt just right. Like they fit perfectly to each other like they were tailor made just for the other. It was cliché` and corny but she didn`t mind it this time. Everything in that moment felt like it just clicked into its rightful place like it belonged, like she finally , just maybe she had finally found something that would fill that hole in her heart.

With those thoughts running through her head she fell asleep and unconsciously pulled Buffy closer to herself and buried her face into blonde locks and had the most serene look upon her face. Only dreams filled with promise and hope filled this slayer` dreams as she slumbered and soon after so did it fill the blondes slayers dreams as well.

Morning came all too quickly for the two witches as they both had restless sleeps that night. Their minds too preoccupied with the two slayers that were sleeping downstairs. They hated seeing Buffy look so sad and guilty and were worried about why she behaved that way in the first place. As they both descended down the stairs already showered and dressed what they saw upon entering the living room threw them both and they stood there looking wide eyed.

Buffy and Faith on the couch together, looked so natural for them and they both seemed to be in the worlds greatest of sleeps. Both witches felt slight envy at the sleep they seemed to have gotten.

But mostly it was the way they were holding onto each other that got their attention. It said so much of things that the Slayers would never dare say to the other awake. But little did the two witches know that Faith did know something very important. Buffy had feelings for her. But if she could just get a little push in the right direction she would definitely tell Buffy how she felt about her.

Buffy felt like she was being watched and suddenly woke up and her eyes landed on Tara and Willow standing by the doorway. Willow with crossed arms and smirking at Buffy with a raised eyebrow in questioning, and Tara smiling knowingly leaning against her. Buffy frowned sleepily in confusion and Willow had to roll her eyes at Buffys slow uptake on things.

She looked pointedly at where Buffy was sleeping with her eyes and it seemed Buffy was only now realising that she and Faith were still spooning on the couch. Slowly extracting herself from Faith who she felt stir but didn`t wake up. She breathed out in relief and followed the two witches into the kitchen. Buffy poured herself a cup of coffee and then waited for the questions which Willow didn`t disappoint.

"So what`s going on Buff? You and Faith looked awfully cosy back there. Anything you want to tell us."She had this all knowing look on her face and Buffy looked thoroughly confused."Um, I don`t know what you're talking about, "she said slowly like she was trying to speak to a kindergartner. Willow rolled her eyes at the blonde Slayer she sighed and let it go for now. But she would get Buffy to admit to her feelings for Faith.`Wow that was easier than I thought.I thought she would have given me the third degree.`Thought Buffy to herself frowning internally.

They heard voices in the living room and entered. They saw that Faith was awake and Rhaya was hugging her. They both saw the look of anger and then hurt flash through Buffy's eyes and they both understood. She had wanted to be the first one Faith saw when she woke up but instead it was they saw how she quickly covered it and put on a weak smile and approached Faith.

`Buffy would definitely be admitting to having feelings for Faith soon, or she`ll loose her to someone else.' Willow felt like they all were in for some fireworks very soon.

I`ll update as soon as I if this chapter seems a little boring,having to much on the brain cuts the creativity.

Please keep the reviews coming and tell me what you think. A couple more chapters left before this is over. Should they have a happy ending or not??But dont worry I`ll make sure the last few chapters are not as bad as this :]


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N:THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS SO GUYS ARE AWSOME![

Took a little longer than expected to post this chapter as I was having problems with this chapter was ready a long time ago.]

Chapter 20

"Hey, B,"said Faith pulling out of Rhayas` embrace and sitting up straighter."Err...How`s your shoulder, "asked Buffy trying to not make eye contact with the other Slayer. Faith frowned slightly at Buffys behaviour but shrugged it away internally thinking that Buffy was just feeling guilty about what had happened the night before.

"I`m five by five, gotta love Slayer healin`, "she said nonchalantly. Buffy nodded slightly and looked slightly relieved but she still looked tense and wouldn`t make eye contact with Faith. Willow could feel the tension in the room and decided she should break it."Okay, well since Faiths awake now we all should start getting ready. Giles want us at the magic box at noon."She looked at Faith and saw her nodding.

"Yeah, okay, well then I`m gonna go then and get cleaned up, Rhaya are ya comin`?"She asked as she stood up from the couch careful not to stretch too much because of the stitches she felt in her shoulder."Wait!"Shouted Buffy before Rhaya or Faith could leave. When they stopped and looked at her she felt her mind go blank."Err...I, don't you want to have breakfast before you leave?" `Yes! Good save Buffy.' She gave herself a mental pat on the back. Faith looked slightly confused for a few seconds but then shook her head,"Nah, but thanks for the offer though B.I`ll just grab something on the way to the Magic Box."

Buffy's` face seemed to fall at that statement but she immediately plastered on a fake smile and said,"Oh, okay, well I guess I`ll see you guys later, "she said as more of a question then a statement and they both nodded. Buffy walked them to the door and Faith was the last to step out but she paused and turned around to look at Buffy."Thanks for taking care of me last night..."She said softly and with such gentle warmth in her eyes Buffy felt her breath hitch. She swallowed hard and said nervously,"Er...n-no p-problem it was my fault that you got hurt in the first place, "she looked down guiltily.

When she felt a warm hand on her arm it sent sparks shooting through her entire body and it made her look up at Faith. She was sure that the other Slayer had felt it too but she still looked at Buffy with those same gentle eyes a look that Buffy had never seen in her before."Don`t blame ya self, cause sometimes shit happens and ya just weren`t thinkin` straight. Trust me it`s happened plenty of times with me.""Yeah well you haven`t gotten anyone almost killed, "mumbled Buffy under her breath with an angry frown but Faith had heard what she said and her grip on Buffy's arm tightened."You know that`s not true, "she said with a pained voice and her voice slightly cracked after saying that and Buffy immediately felt like the world's biggest jerk.

"Faith, I`m so sorry, "she said trying to take a step forward to comfort her in some way but she pulled back and just shrugged it off."It`s cool, ya shouldn`t beat yourself up about something that I did in my I wasn`t gonna stand back an` let that vamp bastard just stab ya in the back like that,I`d die before I let that happen."And with that she walked down the steps of the front porch leaving Buffy just standing there staring after her.

Later at the Magic Box.

Buffy had been in the back room training for the last hour. She arrived earlier than everyone else because she just needed to work out her frustrations on the punching bag. Everything that was on her mind had to do with Faith and her conflicting feelings for her sister Slayer. Everything had changed the moment she decided to forgive Faith. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted of her shoulders and she could finally breathe easily. But she didn`t realise that after realising that heavy burden that a new one would arise.

It wasn`t really a burden but more of a complicated matter of the heart. She knew she had feelings for her darker counterpart but back then it was easier to push those things away. And after this morning she felt something shatter within herself when she saw Rhaya hugging was always was like the Powers That Be were trying to tell her that she wasn`t suppose to have someone to love...

But she knew that they were just friends and that all the flirting and the looks Faith would send Rhaya was just how she was but she couldn`t help feeling jealous, angry and hurt. And those feelings were very overwhelming for her.

She didn`t even realise how hard she was punching the punching bag until she heard a familiar raspy voice say,"Damn, you`ve got some anger management issues there B?"She heard Faith say and then heard a husky chuckle when she stopped her aggressive punching. Buffy turned to look at Faith and rolled her eyes at her trying to look annoyed at the interruption but her stomach felt like it was filled with a million butterflies fluttering around just waiting to burst.

"I`m just doing some training. What are you doing here? Is it already time for the meeting to start?"She asked as she took the tape of her hands. Faith walked down the last few steps and leaned against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. She had on her signature black leather pants, a tight fitting black wife beater and her steel toed boots."Nah, the meetin` doesn`t start for another fifteen minutes or so, "she replied trying to make eye contact with the blonde Slayer who hadn`t looked at her once."Oh, well then I`ll just take a quick shower and come back up, "and before Faith could reply or say anything Buffy was gone to the showers in the backroom.

Faith sighed heavily and slumped down the wall thinking that trying to get Buffy to talk about what happened last night would be like pulling teeth. But she had to know if Buffy had feelings for her. What was there to lose? Her heart?

`Yeah right,' thought Faith sarcastically to herself,' like the little midget didn`t already steal it the moment I laid eyes on her...Damn when the fuck did I get all sappy?!Oh I think I know when. It's everything about her. Her stupid pout and that little half smile thing she does. God! There I go again!' She sighed out loud fustrated and angry at herself and looked at the cracked ceiling. She could hear Buffy in the shower now and decided that she would have to wait until the meeting was over with to talk to her.

Sighing heavily once more she got up and left the training room. When she got back to the front of the store she saw that everyone had arrived and were waiting for just her and Buffy to arrive. As she took a seat at the table and saw how the rest were already looking over some books, well mainly Giles and Willow, while Tara made some tea and Xander stuffed his face with unreasonable amounts of doughnuts.

Faiths eyes scanned the room for the She Wolf whom she had gotten very close to in such a short period of time. They had arrived together so she knew that Rhaya was around somewhere. She found her leaning near a shelf looking out of the shops front window. She seemed to be in deep thoughts and the look on her face told Faith that her thoughts were anything but positive. She moved next to her and made Rhaya aware of her presence but did not speak. They just stood side by side and looked out the window together until Rhaya decided to speak.

"I am afraid."Is what she said and she paused for a long time but Faith didn`t respond, she knew Rhaya needed to get whatever she was feeling out in the open."I am afraid that I will be too late, that I have somehow failed my pack. I feel like I have betrayed them all somehow and, and..."Faith had never heard Rhaya sound so emotional, not even after she was rescued from her months of being torturing by Yurick and his goons. Faith didn`t know what to do but she put a calming hold on the She Wolfs shoulder as she continued to speak."And the most painful thing of all is that Tatiana now may never forgive me. We could all die tomorrow night, I could die or she could,a-and I`d never be able to tell her how sorry I am, to apologise for all the things I have done..."Silent tears rolled down her face and Faith just did what felt natural and pulled her into a hug.

Rhaya cried silently on her shoulder seeking comfort in the dark slayers embrace. She felt safe and protected for some reason but she knew it wasn`t because of feelings of love, but of friendship and being kindled spirits. Faith whispered reassuring words to the She Wolf and she was surprised at herself for doing such a thing. From across the shop Willow and Tara and witnessed the scene between Faith and Rhaya and Willow couldn`t help but comment on how Faith has changed.

"She really has changed, hasn`t she?"Said Willow as more of a statement than a question. Tara nodded besides her even though she hadn`t been there when Faith had gone evil and joined sides with the mayor, she had heard a lot about it from the others and from being able to read Faiths aura she could tell that she had a more calmer demeanour about herself."Yes, she has but the relationship between her and Buffy seems to still be rocky.""I know!"Said Willow excitedly sitting up straighter in her seat her voice raising into a higher pitch and gaining the attention from the others.

She had the decency to look sheepish and then spoke softer but the excitement was still there."It`s like watching a soap opera,you know!!They`re always having that love hate relationship thing going on and then more obstacles get thrown in the way. I don`t even know why we even have a TV?!"She was babbling away looking so hyper that Tara couldn`t help but laugh at her girlfriend.

That snapped Willow out of her long monologue and she blushed looking almost the same shade of red as her hair."Why didn`t you stop me from the babbling??"She pouted at her girlfriend but all Tara could do was laugh at her and her babbling that she loved to hear."Hey, guys did you guys start the meeting without me?"Asked a now freshly showered and changed Buffy. She had on a pair of dark blue fitting jeans and a short sleeved polo neck and her Ugg boots. Her wet hair was tied up in a simple pony tail.

"Ah, Buffy, your right on time I was about to send one of the girls to go and call you, so let us begin."As he said that she saw Rhaya and Faith approach the table and with Rhaya holding Faiths hand like a life line. But this time she was able to hide all her emotions and even Willow and Tara who were watching them closely didn`t even notice.

Buffy sat next to Willow and Tara and Xander opposite her. Then Faith and Rhaya sat across from Tara and Willow."Alright, how are feeling Faith?"Asked Giles with a concerned look in his eyes. She smiled slightly at his concern but shrugged and said, "Five by five G-man."And then she smirked when she saw his eye twitch like it use to when she use to call him that. He began to clean his glasses looking flustered and Faith was still smirking at him."I see, I will take that as a yes you are feeling much better."When he received a slight nod and smirk in return he continued, "Well I had gotten all the details I could last night from Buffy and the others. Maybe you had seen something else that the others may perhaps have missed?"Faith frowned and thought about it. But the only thing she could remember was the chained up pack of werewolves, of Rhayas` and a lot of vampires, but then she remembered over hearing something when she was taking on three vampires at once.

It sounded like it was the one who was put in charge, the second in command. He had been giving orders to a couple of other vampires near the back entrance of the warehouse. She only remembered bits and pieces. They said something about moving them and taking them somewhere underground. The ritual had to be done under the full moon and their master had chosen the perfect place.

Faith told Giles and the others what she had heard and they immediately began researching possible hideouts and places that Yurick would use to perform the ritual. After an hour and a half of researching, a loud,"Aha!!"Startled everybody."Ooops!"said Willow but she was too excited to look sheepish, "I found out where he`s going to do the ritual!"Everybody waited for her to elaborate and she just looked at them confused, only when Tara nudged her lightly in her side she realised why everyone was looking at her. This time she did look sheepish. Everyone rolled their eyes at her except for Tara who just smiled warmly at her.

"I don`t know why we didn`t think of this sooner. It`s all happening down in a sewer, more precisely a sewer that`s directly under the high school and has an opening that can be seen from outside and it`s near the seal of the hellmouth!!"Everybody was silent for about five minutes processing about what they just heard and then Buffy burst out saying, "Why does it always have to be sewers?!I mean I almost died in one the last time when I faced the Master!And they`re so smelly!!"She wrinkled her nose in disgust."Well the evil guys aren`t very original Buff, "said Xander looking up at her and then stuffing his mouth with yet another doughnut. Buffy narrowed her eyes at her friend and asked."How many of those have you eaten Xander?"All of a sudden everyone was looking at Xander.

"WHAT?!"He shouted looking around frantically. No one said anything but kept on staring at him."What, what?!Oh my god!Do I have something on my face?! Am I an ugly demon face??!I knew these doughnuts tasted suspicious!!" "Excuse me?!"shouted or more like shrieked a voice from behind Xander where a fuming Anya stood. Xander looked like all the blood drained from his face."An, honey,I didn`t see you there. You know I didn`t mean it like that I, err..."Buffy decided to end her friends misery and told him what was wrong."Xand I was just going to ask you why you ate all the jelly doughnuts, I didn`t even get to have one!"She whined like a child."Yeah, me too!"Piped up Willow realising that she didn`t get one either and then a, "A quite right, "coming from Giles while Faith just nodded her head.

BANG!!

Everyone jumped up from their chairs and looked down at Xander who was now passed out on the floor with his chair. Anya kicked him lightly with her foot and nodded like she was confirming what everyone already knew."Yep, his passed out cold. You know he does this quite often. Just the other day while he was giving me orgasms ,my fifth one if I remember correctly ,and when I said we should go again he fell out of the bed and was passed out for at least eight hours. I`m telling you it`s all those damn doughnuts his been consuming, it`s slowing down his stamina, and depriving me of more orgasms "She huffed and then tsked a few times. She looked at Xander who was still lying in an uncomfortable position on the floor with the chair on top of him before walking away to attend to a customer not even helping him up into a better position. She didn`t even realise that everyone else was frozen in their places looking equally mortified and stunned. Except for Faith.

Giles at usual looked all kinds of flustered and embarrassed and sounded like he was choking on his tongue and some of them idly wondered if he was about to join Xander in the land of unconsciousness. Tara looked equally embarrassed and shocked. Willows face was a bright red, Buffy was standing there gaping like a fish out of water and Rhaya had a neutral expression on her face that reminded the others of the way Oz was. They also wondered if all werewolves had the same traits.

Suddenly Faith bursts out saying with amusement lining her voice "Man I love that chick!"And she began to laugh loudly her eyes almost tearing up.

Please review. Another update will happen. Hopefully Fanfiction doesn`t give me any more problems:]


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Anything.

**Thanks for all the reviews so far. Here`s a slightly longer chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 21

The meeting at the Magic Box had ended and the rest of the gang had spread out, doing more researching and planning on their strategy for tomorrow night. Tara and Willow would give them magical back up if anything went wrong but judging from the amount of vampires they had encountered the night before they had to be prepared and would need a few extra hands.

Tara and Willow had carried a still unconscious Xander to the back room so he wasn`t just lying around on the floor and then went back to planning what they would have to do the following night. Buffy had been talking to Giles for the past ten or so minutes while Faith just sat at the table and stared at her. And Rhaya was looking through the weapons chest and at all the different kinds of weapons the magic box had.

Buffy felt like the back of her head was on fire. She knew Faith was staring at her from the moment she got up from the table to speak with Giles. It made her entire body feel all warm and tingly, like an electric current was running through her entire body making her feel buzzed. As their conversation came to an end Buffy had no choice but to turn around and acknowledge Faith. When their eyes locked she felt like time stopped for the both of them. As cheesy as that sounded, it really did feel like that moment when their eyes met that everything froze just for them.

But Giles clearing his throat destroyed that moment and both slayers unknowingly glared at him at the same time but he didn`t seem to notice."I would advise you both to have a good night's rest, you will need your energy for what`s about to come tomorrow night. And I`m afraid that I`m going to have to ask Buffy to speak with Spike and ask him to assist us tomorrow evening. We will need all the help that we can get."

"What?!"Shouted Buffy indigently but before she could voice her protests someone beat her to it."No way,his more trouble than his worth, and we can handle it. With Red and Blondie's fire power on our side plus two kick-ass Slayers we`ve got enough fire power to take out an entire warehouse." "Faith, I must point out that it is crucial for us not to underestimate what is to come. There might be more vampires then we have anticipated and even though I do detest the notion of asking Spike for help he is a good fighter, and do I have to mention that he had helped us during the whole Glory debacle."He saw his slayer slightly flinch by his mention of Glory but he had to make his point clear.

"No! He almost hurt B-Fuck!!"She quickly composed herself,"If he gets in my way I`m gonna dust the asshole, S`all `I`m sayin`, "She sighed angrily and stood up to go to the back room."I agree with Faith, Giles, do we really need to ask for Spikes help?"As she said this her eyes followed Faith retreating form to the training room."I know that you and Spike have, err...W-well, "he began cleaning his glasses and Buffy had to hold back an eye roll at that, "W-what I`m trying to say is that you may not get along with him but his help will be greatly beneficial to us."He was about to continue his speech to try and convince Buffy of all the positive things that could come from Spike helping them but she interrupted and said."Fine I`ll ask him. But don`t expect him to say yes. You know he only helps us when he can gain something from it. And just for the record, I am totally against asking him for any help and only doing it because you forced me to!"And with that she stomped off to the training room where she knew Faith would be.

Giles just sighed and shook his head at his Slayer. She could be very stubborn at times.

When Buffy got to the training room she was right in her assumptions that Faith was going at it on the punching bag and it looked like it was about to collapse thanks to Buffy previously beating it into an almost oblivion."Hey,"she said softly walking down the stairs and taking a seat on the work out bench. Faith stopped her assaults on the punching bag but didn`t look at Buffy."Are you okay?"Asked Buffy frowning when Faith didn`t respond. She heard her darker counterpart sigh and looked up. Faith was looking at her with various emotions swimming in those dark and intense eyes of hers. But Buffy could tell that she had her walls up around her as usual."Five by five, B,"she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. Buffy wasn`t convinced though.

"I know you're lying Faith."This caused Faith to become angry and she glared at Buffy, "Is that right, princess? "She sneered at the blonde. Buffy ignored her tone and continued, "I can take care of myself. I know Spike is dangerous but I can handle him, and Giles is right we do need every extra hand we can find." "Oh, I know you can handle bleach boy just fine, "said Faith with contempt and spite in her voice, "we all know you would really love to ask him for an extra hand, "she sneered at the blonde once again with her anger just bubbling beneath the surface. But what she didn`t expect was the fist that came sailing towards her face which she barely had time to dodge and got knocked to the ground on her ass.

`Damn B still has a mean right hook! `Thought Faith who began rubbing her jaw which she knew was already starting to bruise. She stood up and wiped the blood from her mouth with her hand and smirked at Buffy. Buffy on the other hand looked horrified at what she had just done and began to apologise."Oh my god! Faith I`m so sorry!!"And she began to approach Faith trying to get a look at what she had done to her face but Faith backed away from her and Buffy stopped her approach with a flash of hurt crossing her face. But Faith didn`t care this time, Buffy had hit her and she wasn`t going to allow her to pretend she was sorry for doing it when she knew Buffy deep down wanted to kick her ass from the moment she returned to Sunnydale.

"No sweat B,"she said still smirking masking what she truly felt."I deserved that an', "But Buffy cut her off and said sternly,"No,"she shook her head furiously from side to side," it`s not alright and you didn`t deserve that."She paused taking a breath ,her voice sounding as if though she was on the verge of tears," I really am sorry Faith."She said the last part in an almost soft whisper as she took a few steps forward and took Faiths hand in hers. Faith didn`t move this time and stayed in her place with Buffy holding her hand. Buffy was so close she could feel the blondes' body heat radiate onto her. She had to fight with herself to keep her eyes open and from sighing in content.

But when Buffy cupped her cheek she couldn`t help it and her eyes closed and she sighed happily. She felt like her entire body was on fire and her bruised jaw was nothing but a dull ache with Buffy's hand on her cheek. Her names being uttered softly from Buffy made her open her eyes and lock onto hazel green eyes instead. They just stood there staring at each other and they both didn`t want to say anything for fear of breaking that moment between them. But Faith felt herself being drawn into the blonde slayer and she yearned to just have that one kiss that she knew would change her life forever. They both were leaning in but then suddenly Faith felt like this wasn`t how it was suppose to be, and they were both avoiding the situation that was going on between them.

Now Faith won`t deny that it took everything she had to pull away from the almost kiss with Buffy and it almost killed her to do it but she needed answers to her questions and to get some things off her chest and so did Buffy. She didn`t want the kiss to be meaningless like so many of her other kisses in the past.' Now I`m a freakin` sap over one simple stupid kiss!!`She was annoyed at herself and internally rolled her eyes at that. She was generally just plain confused at her own actions and it all had to do with the other Slayer who happened to be looking at Faith like a wounded puppy. She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and said taking a step back."B we need to talk, "and when she saw Buffy was about to interrupt she held up her hand but then decided to not tell her what she really intended to but instead said, "I know ya can look out for yourself, but I`m comin` wit ya when ya go an` see the Billy Idol wannabe an`you can`t stop me from comin wit."Faith stared her down and Buffy felt like the air in the room just got ten times hotter.

For some reason she began to feel those butterflies in her stomach once again but this time they felt like a stampede of elephants instead. Faith really cared about her but she just seemed to show it in a different kind of way and Buffy felt like there was some hope there for her. But pretended to be annoyed at her so she could hide how excited she was."Fine whatever but try not to beat him up before we ask him for his help. He tends to say no to people when his getting beaten to a bloody pulp."And with that she turned on her heel and began to leave."Meet me at eight, "she said without turning around and then was gone.

Faith raised her eyebrows at that, `damn was she bossy.' Shaking her head slightly she began to leave as well hoping that Spike wouldn`t push her over the edge this time because she didn`t have that much of patience left in her anymore and he would surely be dust before he could count to three. She said her goodbyes to the others in the magic box saying she needed to go for a walk and that she would meet up with them said that she would see Faith after she and Buffy came back from their patrol and seeing Spike and she just wanted to go back to Faiths motel room and rest for the following night. Some of her injuries were still healing. Faith gave her a key and told her to use whatever she need and then left.

* * *

Buffy and Faith were walking through the cemetery that would lead them to Spikes crypt in silence. It was awkward. After the intimate and almost kiss moment that happened between the two they were walking on egg shells around each other. When one would accidently bump into the others shoulder while walking they would give a hasty apology or a `sorry` and then walk in silence once more. Buffy had been clenching and unclenching her fists for the upcoming confrontation with Spike. She knew he was going to say something that would set her off and Faith as well. It was something that she knew for a fact because it was just what Spike does. But she didn`t want a physical fight to ensue, she just wanted to go in and get out. Then carry on patrolling with Faith because it had been so long since they had patrolled together and she had missed it.

As they got closer to Spikes crypt Buffy could feel the tension coming of in waves of the ex-rogue slayer and wanted desperately to just reach out and give her some kind of reassurance that nothing was going to happen to her. But when they stood outside the door of his crypt Buffy said something she would soon regret later."I, err...I think I should go in alone and talk to him first. You know, he might think that we`re here to beat him up some more and you do have a history with his face and punching it, "she said with fake cheeriness. Faith clenched her jaw after hearing that. She wanted to tell Buffy that there was no way in hell she was going to let her go in there alone because that fuckin` chip in his head didn`t work anymore and he could hurt Buffy now whenever he wanted but just swallowed and nodded her head. Buffy just took that as a yes and proceed to enter Spikes crypt but not before Faith told Buffy something. She grabbed her arm and the tingles shot through both of them making them freeze, but Faith needed to say something, "Just...be careful B, please..." And with that she let her go and turned her back to Buffy. Buffy sighed and tried to get rid of all the warm tingles going through her body but knew it would be useless to try.

As she entered his crypt it looked the same as it did the last time she was there which was a few months ago. He was lying on his little couch shirtless watching some TV show while munching on what she could tell was stale popcorn."Spike, "she said slowly approaching the half seated half lying on the couch vampire.A"Bloody Hell"'was shouted out in shock from the bleach blonde vampire and it caused him to jumped up and spill all the stale popcorn on himself and the floor."Well someone`s a little jumpy, "said Buffy grinning."Of course I am!!A bloody slayer sneakin` up on a vampire in his own crypt will do that ta a bloke."He began gaining his bearings not wanting to appear weak in front of the blonde slayer whom he was infatuated with."Well now that ya are here I can give ya what ya came for luv,"he said wiggling his eyebrows while smirking and he let his eyes roam her body. Buffy felt her skin crawl and not in a good way. She wanted to puke and tear her own skin off from the way he was looking at her, with lust and desire. For the hundredth time that day she wondered why she had ever gone to Spike in the first place and did the things they had done together. Just thinking of it made her want to flee from his crypt and find the nearest bush to throw up in.

He gripped her around her waist so fast it threw her off felt his ice cold shirtless chest through her clothes making her shiver. She tried pushing him away but he didn`t budge and was like a solid wall. She felt the beginnings of fear settling in. For some reason whenever she was around him she felt weak, like he had found a way to control her. He began kissing her down her throat and she felt the rage build inside of herself. She was the Slayer and he was just a vampire that she could easily dust in a blink of an eye, and with those thoughts running through her head she got the strength to push him back and backhanded him across his face. He smirked at her because this was all a game to him and the slayer was his. She would always come back to him in the end. She may hang around her loyal little Scooby's and pretend to be all righteous but he knew deep down that she was just like him and wanted to be his. His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by Buffy punching him in the stomach.

"Bitch!!"He yelled clutching his stomach but making no move to retaliate."Don't you ever touch me like that again, "she said icily making the already dead vampire suddenly shiver internally at her tone. The glare she was giving him made him feel like he would turn into dust at any moment and that would surely have been the case if she hadn`t broken eye contact. She sighed heavily rubbing her temples and said."I`m not here looking for a fight, "then paused and looked at him pointedly, "or a good time EVER."She emphasised the Ever, "And only came here because we need your help tomorrow night. We don`t know how many vampires he has on his side."Spike was grinning like a maniac on the inside but just smirked on the outside. He grabbed his black shirt that was lying on the couch and pulled it on leaving the buttons undone and lit up a cigarette.

He blew out a puff of smoke and looked the slayer up and down with lustful eyes. `God! He never learns his lesson!!`Thought Buffy angrily as he looked her over like a piece of meat. She crossed her arms over her chest defensively and it just made Spikes smirk grow bigger."Wats init` fore me luv?"He asked licking his lips as he blew out some more smoke loving the fact that he was getting under the blonde slayers skin and he would have loved to be getting under her skin at that moment in more ways than one. It was as if though Buffy could read is thoughts when he saw a sour look cross upon her face."Look, do you want to help us or not? Because either way we`re going to do this with or without your help. I thought you were a good guy Spike. When you took care of Dawn for me when I died and looked out for the others..."She swallowed and shook her head not wanting to think about what happened with her and Glory. It only brought back the painful memories of her being in a fake heaven that was never real and it hurt. A look of shame appeared on his face and then warmth and understanding crossed the vampires face. It was like he had been slapped with something more powerful than the really powerful right hook of the blonde slayer. Buffy was leaning against the wall of his crypt as he approached her. He was just a few inches away from the blonde slayer and he looked her dead in the eye and said, "I remember, "and Buffy had to raise her hands up onto his cold and exposed chest to stop him from coming any closer then he already was. He loved the warmth being emitted from Buffy and he wanted to do so many things to her but a painful kick to the side of his ribs sent him flying away from Buffy and landing on his tiny little coffee table and in the process smashing it along with him.

Buffy looked wide eyed at the person who had just sent Spike flying across his crypt. Faith stood there, looking like the picture of pure and raw rage. Her eyes not her usual warm brown almost golden honey in colour to the blonde slayer, were now dark almost black from the anger she felt coming of in waves through their connection."Faith, "she wanted to say her name loudly as if questioning why she was in there and why she attacked Spike but her voice only came out in a hushed whisper that echoed around the walls of the crypt. She realised two things. One, that she was in Spikes crypt for a very long time just to be asking him for a favour and two, they were both standing in a compromising position that the dark slayer could have misinterpreted.

Spike got up from his now destroyed pile of coffee table pieces and began to swear, "Bloody hell!!Fuckin`bitch!!What`s her problem?!"He shouted clutching his now once again bruised ribs and looking at Buffy but glaring daggers at Faith. Faith clenched and unclenched her fists. She needed to pummel something or she would go crazy."Faith, he wasn`t doing anything to me, "said Buffy hoping that it would pacify the dark slayer but it did quite the opposite and if it were even possible Faiths eyes seemed to have lit up with a fire that scared Buffy."Oh,"she said her voice sounding strangely hollow and lost, "so you wanted him pressed up against ya? Fine, I`m sorry I interrupted ya, now I see how the perfect miss holier than thou, the Golden girl who everyone looks up to works. Give him a nice roll in the sack and he`ll agree to whatever ya want..."

SLAP!!

That smack shocked Faith out of her bitter rant and she held her cheek in the palm of her hand. It seemed that Buffy really liked hitting her in the face and her jaw was still slightly bruised from earlier AND Buffys` slaps hurt like a bitch! This time though Buffy had no remorse in her eyes and looked at Faith with fire, hurt and anger in her eyes. "I was not doing anything with him, unlike you I don`t fuck anything with two legs and a pulse."She said harshly and it shocked her that she was saying such hurtful things to Faith but didn`t let it show on her face. Faith had to admit that what Buffy said had stung, a lot. But she wasn`t one to lie down and take it like some pathetic good for nothing."Yeah well ya just look for the ones that have none. It seems to be a pattern with ya, first Soul Boy and now ya wit the Billy idol what`s your excuse this time huh? His chipped and he`s good now??"She laughed bitterly as she spat out some blood that came from her reopened split lip."Wait, wait, and let me guess?"She pretended like she was thinking hard and then said,"Mmmh...You're in love with him and his your soul mate?"She spat out with anger and hate and a line of bitterness. Spike just looked on with wide eyes.' This was better than Passions.' he thought excitedly and idly wondered if there was any stale popcorn left somewhere.

Buffy was hurt and angry and she felt her eyes fill up with tears that were threatening to fall. She felt her voice crack."It...isn`t like that. I-I w-was just feeling so empty and dead on the inside. When they brought me back I was..."Buffy swallowed, thinking about when they ripped her out of a place that wasn`t really heaven but she didn`t know that at the time and it made her hurt all over again. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and Faith felt like she deserved more than a slap from Buffy in that moment. The pain on the tiny blondes face made her want to just go up to her and wrap her arms around her and never let go but she let Buffy continue what she was saying."I just wanted to feel something, anything...And I-I, "Faith couldn`t take it anymore and said,"B, Buffy,"and realised her voice sounded just as emotional as the blondes and swallowed the lump in her throat and said, "It's okay,I`m,I`m just really sorry for jumping to conclusions like that and I never meant ta hurt ya,"then whispered the last part, "I`d never hurt you, ever..."Then she turned and began to walk out shouting, "Sorry about the table Billy, "and then she was gone.

Buffy stood there for a few seconds just staring, then her body started to move of its own accord after Faith."Oui!"Shouted Spike after the blonde. She stopped in her tracks and looked at him annoyed and irritated."I`ll help ya, where we meetin`?"A ghost of a smile appeared on Buffys` face but it vanished as soon as it came."Sunset, my house, "and then she was gone."Spike was shaking his head as he watched her running out of his crypt."Never a dull moment between those two, "he said aloud to no one."But damn!!The dark ones got a powerful kick on her."And he began to rub his slowly now healing ribs once again.

* * *

Buffy ran through the graveyard but she couldn`t find Faith anywhere and she frowned. She concentrated and used their Slayer connection and finally felt a slight tingle and began to follow it. It seemed Faith was going back to her motel and Buffy grinned. Faith had tried to give her the slip but she didn`t count on Buffy using their slayer connection to find her. She saw Faith walking towards her motel room door and as she opened the door Buffy was just a few feet away but she didn`t seem to notice her and it would only surprise Faith more that Buffy had come after her. She was going to finally go up to Faith and finally tell her everything she felt. In that moment she wanted to pour her heart out to the Dark Slayer. Tell her that she had feelings for her that she was falling for her and might possibly be in love with her and had been from the moment she had seen her. Her heart swelled at the thoughts and her heart felt lighter too, but everything came crashing down around her and her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw Rhaya greet Faith at the door as she pulled Faith into a hug that seemed far from a friendly hug to her.

She didn`t know if it was possible for her heart to break anymore but she was wrong, because she felt it breaking into millions of tiny pieces as she stood there watching. When they were finally out of sight and the door closed behind them she turned around with tears streaming down her face as she walked back home with lost hope and a broken heart she was afraid would never be mended. Maybe she was destined to be alone. Maybe it was a sign from the Powers that Be telling her she should just accept her fate of loneliness for however long she would live. The thought made her heart break even further.

She could never catch a break. As she walked the streets of Sunnydale with tears streaming down her face not caring about anyone seeing her like that she felt like a dark cloud had formed around her. This was just how it was going to be for her. Forever alone. As the cold wind of the night blew against her tears streaked face making her shiver slightly, she sighed and resigned to herself to the facts that she would have to accept her fate, which was inevitable as a slayer...

She just hoped that no one was awake when she returned because she didn`t want to talk to anyone at the moment. If only some things were that simple.

**Things seem to be very rocky at the moment between our favourite two Slayers but don`t worry things will fall into place.**

**PLEASE REVIEW.**


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Anything.

Sorry for taking so long to update guys!!Lots of computer trouble!:[

Here`s the next chapter! Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 22

As Buffy entered her house all the lights were off and she sighed internally in relief as she walked to the kitchen to have some water. As she entered she saw Tara sitting at the breakfast nook drinking a cup of tea.' So much for no one being awake.' She thought sourly to herself, and just wanted to be alone. She put on her best peppiest smile and greeted the blonde haired witch."Hey Tara, "she said taking out a bottle of water from the fridge. Tara was startled but recovered and said back with a small smile of her own,"Hey Buffy, "and took a sip of her hot cup of tea."Couldn`t sleep?"Asked Buffy conversationally. Tara nodded and said,"Yeah, just thinking about tomorrow night.""Well don`t worry about it, we always find a way to defeat the bad guys and this time is no different."Tara did feel slightly better after hearing that and nodded,"Yeah, your right, plus we have Faith and Rhaya to help us too, right?"She said not realising that it would set Buffy off and make the flood gates open. She began to sob and Tara was thrown wondering what she had said wrong but pulled Buffy into a comforting hug rubbing her back."Buffy, what happened? What`s wrong?"She asked still rubbing the slayers back comfortingly.

Buffy sniffed and hiccupped slightly, and was just so tired of crying."Nothing...`sniffs `Everything, why do I always have to end up alone? Why do I always end up with the broken heart??"She began sobbing once more and didn`t even know where all her tears were coming from."Buffy, what happened? Is this about Spike?"Buffy made a strangled and disgusted sound which caused a small smile to appear on the blonde wiccans face."Is it Faith...?"She asked threading into shaky territory. Buffy just shook her head yes and Tara had to sigh internally. The two Slayers were definitely going to be difficult to deal with. They were both so stubborn and both had to always be right and then it would end up with them fighting once again. They just had to admit to their feelings for each other and Tara was sure that it would end all the problems between the two. There were issues that still needed to be solved and worked out between the two of them but if they would just admit their feelings for each other, everything would be so much easier for them and there would be less heart ache for the both of them.

"Have you tried talking to her?"Asked Tara rubbing the blonde slayers back soothingly. She sniffed once more and shouted, "Faith?!Please!!She`s too busy getting her itch scratched by that-that She Skank Wolf to even think about other people's feelings!"Tara interrupted Buffy gently saying,"Buffy, Faith and Rhaya are just friends and she offered her a place to stay. Where else would she have stayed after you guys recued her?" "Err...It doesn`t matter, "said Buffy who then continued her rant, "I mean you should have seen her when we rescued Rhaya,she was all half naked and Faith was practically drooling all over her like some pubescent boy seeing their crush in a bikini for the first time!!Why wasn`t she looking at me like that?!"As she shouted that and then she realised how stupid she sounded and also mortified that she had said it aloud and in front of Tara. Her eyes got wide as saucers as she looked at the blonde witch who was just smiling at her knowingly."It`s okay, Buffy."She said gently and that made Buffys` inner panic disappear."But why haven`t you told Faith about how you feel? You two have both have been so tense around each other."Buffy sighed and said now more calmlyand pulling out of Taras` hug."I was, I was going to tell her everything tonight, just lay it all out there in the open and I wasn`t to dodge questions or procrastinate, I was finally going to tell her everything I`ve been feeling since she returned but,2she took a breaht,"w- when I saw Rhaya greeting her at the door when she returned to her motel room...I just felt like I lost all my chances to finally come clean and admit to having feelings for her just crumble."

"Buffy, maybe your reading too much into the relationship between Rhaya and Faith. Did they say they were dating?"Buffy hesitated for a moment and then said or more mumbled a,"No,"but then spoke up more clearly this time, "I`d actually have to speak with Faith first without us coming to blows and me not punching her so much, "she admitted sheepishly. She sighed tiredly and then said again before they could get any further into the love hate relationship going on between the Chosen Two."I`m going to go sleep, I hadn`t had much sleep these last few days. Night Tara."Tara gave her a polite good night in return but she remained in the kitchen with her now cold cup of tea. Their subtle interfering wasn`t going to work for the two slayers and she knew that both she and Willow would have to go with a little more of a direct approach.

It was now way past midnight but Buffy couldn`t sleep and she had been tossing and turning restlessly. She could easily see the moon shining through her window and the big oak tree that stood nearby it moves in the gentle breeze of the night. Suddenly she felt her slayer senses tingle and it wasn`t the tingle she would get when a vampire was near but more of when a certain dark haired slayer was nearby. She saw the brunette slayer at her window staring at her and her face was filled with so many emotions Buffy felt dizzy trying to just decipher one. She got up to open the window and hugged herself when a cold breeze was let in. Faith was dressed in her usual leathers. A white wife beater,leather pants and her leather jacket and steel toed boots to finish it off. She landed in the room with such a graceful landing which surprised Buffy. She took of her leather jacket and draped it over Buffys shoulders as she walked them both backwards to Buffys bed. Buffy just let her lead them because she was still frozen in shock. Faith was in her room, with both of them sitting on her bed and Faith just took of her jacket and draped it over Buffy because she could see the blonde was shivering. The brunettes scent on the leather jacket was overwhelming the smaller slayers senses.

Finally Buffy broke the eerily quiet silence of the room."Faith what are you doing here?"She asked barely above a whisper. She heard the other girl take in a deep breath, "I came to apologize..."she trailed off causing Buffy to frown."To apologise for what?"She asked getting even more confused as the minutes went by."I`m sorry about what happened earlier at Spikes, "she spat his name out like it was something venomous, "I shouldn`t have acted the way I did and I`m sorry for sayin` all those nasty things `bout you."She said all of this while looking down in her lap wringing her hands nervously. Buffy knew Faith and Faith never apologised for anything so it must have taken a lot out of her to be doing this and she couldn`t help but feel her eyes slightly prickle with tears."There`s nothing to be sorry about Faith. I would have jumped to the same conclusions as you did if I caught you in a compromising position like that."Suddenly Buffy had images of Faith in not so innocent positions that caused her face to turn crimson and Faith smirked knowingly."Ya were thinkin `bout me naked, weren`t ya?"She said confidently waggling her eyes brows smirking even wider."I don`t blame ya though, I'm one hot chick, I`d do me too if I could."That got her a punch in the arm from Buffy but her smirk still remained firmly in place."Well don`t we think so highly of ourselves?"She said sarcastically rolling her eyes a small smile threatening to break loose. Faith moved closer to her on the bed and said while trailing a hand up her Buffy arm, causing her goosebumps to form on the blonde slayers skin.

When Buffy turned her head slightly to look at Faith her breath hitched at the close proximity the dark slayer was sitting next to her."Faith, "she whispered her name making it sound almost like a whispered silent breeze. She was looking at Buffy with her dark eyes filled with lust, passion and love and there was no denying that. It was like their slayer connection heightened and became stronger so they could feel what the other was feeling. It was like an electric and warm sensation all at the same time and it was driving both Slayers crazy. Suddenly they both were leaning in and Buffy felt like she was about to burst because their movements felt like it was going in slow motion and it was torture but when Faiths lips touched hers all thoughts left her mind.

It was everything she had imagined and even more. Faiths lips were so soft it was like kissing cotton candy and she just couldn`t get enough. If she were to die in that moment she would`ve died happy. Everything felt like it was finally falling into place, like the way it was suppose to be. She had never felt this way with anybody else not even Angel. With Faith it felt like that hole in her heart had finally been filled and she was never going to let go. She wanted the kiss to last forever but even as slayers they needed to come up for air. They both were breathing heavily and both looking flushed and then it was likes a rain cloud of emotions just suddenly burst between the two and they were kissing and trying to touch the other in some way both trying to take the lead as they fell onto the bed. Faith was doing things to her that she had only ever dreamed about and suddenly she felt a sharp pain on her ass and looked up at Faith who was straddling her with a smirk on her face."Time ta wake up B...""Wha-?"Buffys` eyes shoot open and suddenly realised she was on the floor with a pillow clutched under her arm."It was a frickin DREAM?!!"She shouted out loud not realising the others were still sleeping."I hate my life!!"She shouted out to no one in particular.

"Yeah, I hate my life too but you don`t see me shouting about it at three in the morning!"Said Dawn irratibly, who was standing at the entrance of Buffys room with folded arms."Sheesh your such a drama queen, so could you please keep it down, others are trying to sleep you need our beauty sleep,unlike some of us."And then she turned and left dragging her half asleep body back to bed. Buffy sighed heavily and grabbed the pillow she was clutching bringing it to her face and used it to muffle her screams of frustrations."Aaaaarrrggghhh!!""Buffy!!Keep it down!!"Shouted Dawn from her room her voice laced with sleep.' I wonder if she`s a slayer,' thought Buffy idly,"Nah..."She said after a few minutes of thinking, "that's not possible...""Stop talking to yourself Buffy!!"Shouted Dawn once more and Buffy was really starting to wonder if she had super hearing."Just go back to sleep you little freak!"Shouted Buffy back."Your one to talk midget!"She shouted back.`Oh my God, are we really fighting from inside our own rooms?!We really are not normal...`She was fuming over the midget comment but she would let it slide until morning comes. After that dream she wasn`t going to have any sleep. She needed a cold shower.

Later that morning.

It was after nine and everybody was meeting at Buffys` house and they were all gathered at the table in the living room and were just waiting for Faith and Rhaya to show up. When a knock came at the front door, Xander went to go and open it and only Rhaya entered and no Faith with her though. She tried to sound as casual as she could when asking,"Er...Where`s Faith?"Rhaya smiled inwardly at the blonde slayers question. She was very obvious and she didn`t understand why the two slayers weren`t together, they were a perfect match in her opinion. She had in fact told Faith that the previous night but she kept on saying that Buffy didn`t feel that way about her and then she left the motel room saying she needed to find something to slay. She hadn`t seen her since then and she had been worried, but she knew Faith was a slayer and could take care of herself. She shook her head at Buffys question and replied, "Faith went out last night after returning back to motel. She said she needed to patrol some more and I haven`t seen her since..."Rhaya trailed off and felt uneasy after saying this as she felt daggers being glared at her from one angry blonde slayer."What?!You just let her go out on patrol alone?!What if something happened to her??!What if...."As Buffy began to pace the living room and throwing her hands up in the air, shouting out all the possible things that could have happened to Faith while she was patrolling alone. The others were just staring at her all dumbfounded and confused at her behaviour while others had knowing looks on their faces and so they didn`t hear the front door open. And also didn`t notice the new occupant in the room until Buffy ended her ramble and they spoke."I can`t believe this!!She could be dead somewhere lying in a ditch and we`re all sitting here drinking tea and eating doughnuts!!"She ended breathing slightly faster than normal looking slightly frantic.

"Didn`t know you cared B,"said a slightly husky and raspy voice. Buffy wiped her head around to the entrance of the living room and there stood the brunette slayer in the flesh and Buffy almost launched herself into the brunnettes could tell she was out patrolling until the sunrise. There were some cuts on her hands and face. It was like she was some kind of robot looking over Faith for more injuries. As Faith walked more into the room Buffy saw her limping slightly. Buffy wanted to object and shout at her and tell her that she did care, and that she cared too much for her own good. She swallowed all those words down and said instead."Faith of course WE were worried about you! You can`t go off slaying like that, it's irresponsible and selfish and you needed to be resting instead of going out and finding a good slay to help you with your frustrations."Buffy cringed at every word she said to Faith as she saw a brief look of hurt flash across Faiths face but it was soon replaced with anger and an air of indifference.

Faith scoffed and thought that as usual Buffy was being her usual holier than thou bitch self. She felt like going over to the little blonde slayer and kicking her ass but she had hurt her leg during a fight with a few more vampire than she had expected. But it was nothing she couldn`t handle and a few hours of sleep and Slayer healing would put her back into tip top shape."Look I just needed to blow of some steam, an` it`s none of your business if I go out slaying alone or not. I`ll be ready when we need to take out that Yurick guy so don`t go on your little holier than thou tirade once again, I'm five by five." "You can`t use that as an excuse every time you want to blow off steam! We have a responsibility Faith!"Buffy took a deep breath and this argument seemed to be taking off into something much more bigger and the tension could be felt by all. Giles thankfully saved everyone from the slayers bickering and verbal sparring much to everyones relief. Two angry slayers made for a lot of broken furniture and bruised bodies.

"Buffy, Faith, if it`s alright with the two of you could we please proceed with the meeting. You two may finish your conversation on your own time."When he saw them both settling down he began to relay to them what he had found so far and went over the mission plan one more time. Both the slayers were glaring at the other and the only place for Faith to sit was the chair next to Buffy. She clenched her jaw and began to make her way to the chair as Giles spoke. She had to cover up the pain she felt in her slightly sprained ankle but Buffy while glaring at her with anger that was really just pretend and was watching her like a hawk. She saw Faith limp slightly and her sexy walk was slightly off. Her eyes narrowed as Faith got closer and as she just dropped herself into the chair next to Buffy almost knocking her out of her seat. She huffed slightly straightening herself and sending a sideways glare to Faith who just smirked back at her. Buffy wanted to smack that smirk of her face, maybe by kissing it off.' I could just jump onto her lap right now and kiss that stupid smirk off...`She grinned dreamily thinking about it and suddenly chastised herself.' Bad Buffy!' She shook her head slightly to get rid of those thoughts.

"So what do you think Buffy, "asked Giles as everyone looked in her direction with questioning eyes. She laughed nervously and felt like she was in high school once again. She barely heard a word Giles said, too in her thoughts of Faith. She saw the disapproving look Giles sent her way and was about to respond and say that she was listening but just forgot. But someone came to her rescue, someone very unlikely."Sure G-man, I think it`s a great plan. "She said confidently and nodded seriously. Giles smiled happily at that, at least one of them were listening and knew what he was talking about."Very well then I suppose we`ll all meet at sundown later tonight. Make sure you all get plenty of rest, "he said and looked pointedly at Faith who looked slightly sheepish and then Giles got up to leave for the magic box with Anya hot on his heels telling him about how much business he was losing at meetings that were all the same thing year after year. Willow walked slowly up and sat in the now empty chair that Buffy had been occupying and nudged Faiths shoulder with a small smirk on her face, and said softly."You didn`t hear a word Giles said right, "she said as more of a statement than a question and smirked more as she saw Faith trying to hide a smile.

Faith found it easier to be around the others now then when she first returned. After they all forgave her they had been more friendly and open towards her and she couldn`t help but feel slightly bitter that they didn`t do that in the first place and it could have prevented so much of heartache in the first place. She then turned and smirked at Willow,"Nope, but it's the same when it comes to all guys even the old stuffy British kind. Just agree and say that whatever they just said was great. It's a win, win situation."She threw her hands behind her head looking smugly at Willow who couldn`t help but let out a little laugh.

She never thought she and Faith would ever be sitting together and laughing with each other without Faith trying to kill her. But things had changed and so had Faith. They all had seen it and they couldn`t deny it. She really was trying to make amends and do the right thing and after she helped them return Buffy back to normal Willow could no longer hold her grudge against her. She was starting to see a really good friend in the dark Slayer. Tara threw her arms around the giggling Willow and Willow leaned into her. Faith couldn`t help but feel slightly jealous seeing that, wishing that it was her and Buffy instead. But who was she kidding, Buffy would never see her in that way. She had thought that she had when they had almost kissed in the magic box training room but when Buffy spoke to her like some kind of second rate slayer just earlier on with her holier than thou attitude, that almost kiss meant nothing.

She saw but more like felt Buffy looking at her. Her slayers sense always went haywire when Buffy would look at her or just plain old staring. Her skin would tingle and her whole body felt like it was on fire and she wondered if Buffy felt the same way when she looked at her. Rhaya was busy talking to Xander about something that Xander seemed to need to make lots of hand gestures and strange noises and didn`t want to get into that conversation. Tara and Willow were acting all lovey dovey with each other and Faith didn`t want to interrupt them and because it was sickenly saw Buffy going upstairs and decided that they both needed to clear the air between them because they needed to be able to communicate with each other as other peoples live would depend on it later that night. As she climbed the stairs her stomach felt like it was in knots and she didn`t know why. She couldn`t be never got nervous or scared about anything!!When she reached Buffys room with the door slightly open, she knocked lightly and cleared her throat to get Buffys attention.

Buffy looked up and hid the sudden giddiness that entered her system at Faiths presence in her room. She had a neutral expression on her face but her insides were a mess, and were doing the Macarena and some other weird dance. They both were just looking at each not saying anything until Buffy broke first and began apologising."Faith I`m really sorry about earlier, I shouldn`t have said you were irresponsible or being selfish, it's just that I-I guess,"she paused," I`ve been apologising a lot lately to you haven`t I?"She asked half smiling and half laughing sadly. Buffy sighed and so did Faith."It`s cool B, we`re five by five and you were right. I should have been more careful and not so irresponsible and should`ve rested and not out on patrol by myself."She sighed heavily and continued,"B-but I just had to slay something cause I was goin` ta go crazy just sitting in my motel room..."She ran her hands through her hair and sat down on Buffys bed. Buffy looked at her, really looked at her. She saw how tired the other slayer was and could see it on her face. She looked finished and just plain tired. She wanted to take the other slayer in her arms and just hold her and make her feel better but she was too much of a coward to do it.

She put a hand on Faiths and they both looked at it but they didn`t pull away either. Buffy spoke so softly and with warmth that Faith had never heard in her voice before."I just wish that I could go back in time and fix everything that went wrong between us you know. I did so many awful things to you and p-put you in a coma and I almost killed you..."Buffys voice cracked with all the pent up emotion and Faith just sat there wide eyed. She was shocked at Buffys confession. The guilt that the blonde slayer still carried over stabbing Faith. When Faith saw the first tear rolling down Buffys face she felt something inside her break, and pulled the blonde slayer into her shoulder hugging her. Buffy was stiff in her embrace but a few seconds later relaxed into Faiths arms and let the tears flow. This would be the only time she would get to be in Faiths arms and that thought caused her to cry even more.

Faith began to run her fingers through Buffys hair and began to say soothing things."Sssh, B, it`s not your fault, did what ya had ta and I deserved it. I was working for a bad guy and I poisoned Angel."She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and continued, "You did what you had to and don`t think you could have done anythin` differently `cause you couldn`t. I`m pretty stubborn when I wanna be..."She trailed off getting a small snort of laughter from Buffy who stopped crying and it caused her to smile slightly. She unconsciously held onto Buffy a little tighter as Buffy buried her face in brunette curls. She was holding Buffy Summers in her arms and she never wanted this moment to end.

Buffy pulled back a little and looked at Faith with watery eyes with sniffing."Sorry for crying on your clothes," she said sheepishly. Faith just shrugged it off like it was no big deal and said,"Anytime,B,"in her soft and raspy voice that made Buffys heart beat faster than normal. Faith tried to keep a yawn in but it escaped and she blushed shocking Buffy slightly. She had never seen Faith embarrassed before."Are you tired?"She asked gently still sitting very close to the brunette slayer. Faith nodded slightly and Buffy said, "Well you can sleep here if you want, "and Faith was about to protest but Buffy gave her the resolve face that she had seen Willow use before on the others. She finally nodded and when Buffy was about to leave she heard Faith call out to her, almost timidly.

"Stay with me..."she whispered not making eye contact with the blonde and had her back facing the other slayer. Buffy felt her breath hitch and her palms sweat. Did Faith just ask her to stay with her??"It`s just that I haven`t been able to sleep all that well lately and maybe if you were here I could fall asleep quicker, "she said it fast and didn`t elaborate further. Buffy wanted to jump up and down on her bed like a little kid who got their first bike on Christmas day but contained herself."Okay, "was all she said and Faith was shocked that she had accepted. It was just an out of the blue request that she knew Buffy would stutter her way out off but she hadn`t. They had been fighting with each other only just half an hour ago but it was like it didn`t happen at all suddenly.

Buffy saw Faith just standing there and looking dumbstruck not knowing what to do so she took the initiative and took off her shoes and lied down on the bed. Faith snapping out of her trance followed suit and took of her shoes and threw her leather jacket on a chair by Buffys were on their sides and were on the very edges of the bed but facing each other. Millions of questions in both their eyes all going unanswered.

Finally breaking the silence Faiths husky voice filled the silence."Thanks for staying with me, "she said looking directly into the hazel green eyes that had captured her from the very start."No problem, "replied Buffy smiling sweetly at Faith making Faiths heart beat at a rate she was sure would make it explode. After that they both were quiet and basked in the others presences. Soon they both drifted off into a peaceful sleep and gravitated to each other. When they would awake the next time they would find themselves in each other's embrace.

And maybe they would finally admit what they both had been feeling for a very long time.

Please Review. I like hearing what you have to say. If you think I should spice it up a bit or if it`s getting boring let me know!!REVIEW,REVIEW,REVIEW!!


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE!IT FEELS LIKE I HAVEN`T UPDATED IN YEARS BUT HERE`S THE NEXT CHAPTER AND HOPEFULLY THE NEXT ONE IS UP SOONER.**

**ENJOY!**

Chapter 23

Hours later the Chosen Two were still fast asleep in Buffys bedroom holding onto the other like it was meant to be. They looked like they belonged where they were. Buffy was snuggled into Faiths side, her head tucked nicely under the brunette slayers chin with Faiths arm over her waist holding her protectively. This was how both slayers found each other when they woke up almost simultaneously. Green eyes stared into brown eyes that had little gold flecks in them from closer inspection. They both weren`t moving but they also looked like they didn`t want to leave either. When Faith woke up with her arms wrapped around Buffy she felt like it should have always been like this between them and she never wanted to let go.

Buffys mind was swimming with all the emotions she was feeling. Happy, elated, ecstatic and even giddy but also nervous and scared. She felt so safe and content in Faiths arms, like nothing could ever hurt her when she was there and she wanted to so badly tell Faith that. They both were looking at each other with various emotions that were threatening to spill over and explode. And in that moment everything felt like it was going in slow motion but in reality it felt like getting the wind knocked out of you. Their faces were growing closer and closer and when their lips touched Buffy could`ve sworn she saw fireworks explode behind her eyes and Faith felt like she was drowning in hot liquid fire. Her skin felt like it was set ablaze and she never wanted that feeling to end. Everything felt like it was spinning in a never ending euphoric kind of way and both slayers were kissing each other like it was their oxygen,ther means of survival and if it were to end they would both die.

Both of them only taking tiny little gasps of air and then carried on kissing the other like their lips were only meant to be on the others for the rest of their lives. It was the most intense kiss experienced by both the slayers. It was like being kissed for the very first time and it felt so right unlike any other kisses they had, had. When both Slayers pulled back from each other breathlessly, with glazed over eyes and swollen lips,breathing heavily like they had run a then their eyes met and it was like a tidal wave of emotions were let loose. Suddenly Faith was straddling Buffy and then they were both back to kissing each other furiously and passionately like nothing else mattered. Both of them not noticing that it was already dark, and only consumed with each other and this new torrent of emotions that had suddenly broken forth.

Buffy and Faith both battle for dominance but Faith held her position on top of the blonde and their fast and furious kissing suddenly turned gentle and soft, but surprisingly it was Faith who began kissing Buffy with more gentleness than Buffy ever thought she had. It shocked her but it made her fall even more in love with the brunette, if that was even possible.

Love?

Buffy froze mid kiss and Faith stopped kissing her as well thinking she had done something wrong and started to panic thinking Buffy was about to throw her off her and kick her ass, but before she could get into full panic mode Buffy started to kiss her back with a renewed passion. She was frozen in her spot for a few seconds before responding in the same manner. What she didn`t know was that Buffy had finally admitted to herself that she was in love with the brunette. She Buffy Summers was truly, madly and deeply in love with Faith the bad ass slayer and she finally understood that expression. She felt so free and like she could do anything, and hoped desperately that this was not a dream.

Faith was having very similar feelings. But she always knew that she was in love with Buffy Summers only in this moment she had finally put down her walls and was showing Buffy parts of herself she would never show anyone else. It was both freeing and exhilarating at the same time. But the very intense make out session which felt like hours to them but could have only been a few minutes ended abruptly when a shrill voice shouted out Buffys could both hear her stampeding up the stairs and flew of each other as if though they were burnt. Both looking at each other wide eyed and with swollen lips as a reminder of what had just ended a few seconds ago. Both of them desperately searching the others eyes for the answers to what just happened.

Buffy was about to answer all those questions she saw shinning in those beautiful brown eyes that had little gold flecks in them that would make her heart beat ten times faster which was something she would never forget. Those eyes were now open, no walls up like they use to have. Faith was giving her an opening and she was going to take it and not let it slip by like so many other times she saw the dark slayer trying to let her in. Not this time though. But as she said Faiths name, Faiths said her name simultaneously with her."Faith,""B"And they both couldn`t help the little smiles that formed on their faces and Faith gestured for Buffy to go first, "Faith I,""Geez!!Finally!!"Shouted Dawn rolling her eyes not realising that she interupted something very important to the slayers."You guys practically slept the whole day away!"She huffed with folded arms glaring at Buffy and then looked suspiciously between the two."Why do you two look so flushed?"She asked her eyes narrowing suspiciously between the two slayers.

But before Buffy could tell Dawn to get lost Faith interrupted with a smirk on her face and a mischievous look in her eyes. She turned around so she was looking at Dawn fully and smirked even more when she saw Dawn frowning deeply. "Well, I was just sleepin` all peaceful and shit,cause I hadn`t had a good sleep in a good few days, but then all of a sudden I heard Big Sis, "she motioned with her head to Buffy who was standing near the bed with a matching frown as Dawn."B started to mumble shit in her sleep and then suddenly the mumbling started soundin` more like gruntin`,so I thought she was dreamin` about slayin`..."Buffys eyes got wide. This was so not good and she knew it when she saw the smirk Faith threw in her direction and she was shaking her head furiously but everyone ignored her and all Dawns` attention was on Faith."But when she started moaning and making all these cute little noises and then shoutin` out my name I knew she was just havin a hot dream about me and her all naked and sweaty,"she wiggled her eyebrows at Dawn trying to stop a laugh that wanted to burst through."Ewewewewew!!!"Shouted Dawn pulling a disgusted face and covering her ears like she had heard something that would scar her for life and Faiths verbal explanation of Buffys dream about them doing things together would definitely be stuck in her head for a while.

Dawn ran out of the room still covering her ears shouting back at them, "Just get downstairs!!Everyone's waiting for you guys!!"And then they heard her practically leaping down the stairs. Faith couldn`t help but chuckle at that. The kid was so easy to rile up, almost as easy as it was to rile up her big sister. When she turned around and saw the unamused look on Buffys face she looked slightly sheepish but still had a smirk on her face."What?"she asked looking innocently at Buffy but it wasn`t working, And just like any other time she would want to tell Faith what she was thinking they get interrupted once again. She wished she had some kind of magical power where she could just send herself and Faith to a place where it was just the two of them, with no interruptions. It was Xander who looked like he was drooling and looked at Buffy and Faith like they were prime pieces of meat. His eyes practically bouncing from one slayer to the other. Suddenly he says excitedly."Dawnie says there`s some slayer loving going up here!!"His voice sounded high pitched and he quickly crossed his legs and then Anya magically appears at his side."I didn`t know you two were orgasm buddies. I always thought Buffy liked the penis like my Xanders`.But not my Xanders because his mine but I mean men in general. But good for you, you seem to have taken that stick from up your butt out."She said nonchalantly and Faith couldn`t help the laugh that came out loudly but it ended up sounding like a snort, and she had a big smirk plastered on her face. While Buffy just stood there glaring daggers at Anya and turning a nice shade of red." I`ve heard lesbian sex is quite enjoyable. Maybe we could bring another woman into our bedroom Xander so we can find out if this lesbian sex is as good as they say it ?"A resounding thud is heard by all as Xander was sprawled unconscious on the floor once more. Anya rolled her eyes at that and so did Buffy while Faith just chuckled once more finding the whole situation hilarious.

"Was it something I said?"Asked Anya frowning at her fiancés unconscious form. Faith began laughing loudly once more and she looked almost near tears. Buffy just looked on unamused and irritated at the interruptions."Hey guys, "said Willow who now arrived and was standing in Buffys`doorway, "I thought Xander and Anya might have gotten lost looking for you two cause they were gone so long, "she said smiling her Willowy smile at the two Slayers and then noticed Xander on the floor by her feet. She frowned and nudged him with her toe and sighed."He fainted again, didn't he, "she said but it was more of a rhetorical question."Maybe he should go see a doctor or something, his fainting episodes are way too much lately, "said Willow with a small smile forming. Buffy couldn`t help the amused smile that broke free and sighed. Suddenly she realised that her room wasn`t as bright as it was before and that it was already nightfall.

"Wow, it`s already dark out,"said Buffy looking out her window."Well duh,"said Anya rolling her eyes, "you two must have been quite busy giving each other orgasms to not notice."And with that she walked away once again leaving Xander on the floor. Buffy started blushing and stuttering, "We-I-What?!We weren`t doing anything!!"She shouted out after Anya who was already halfway down the stairs. She couldn`t make eye contact with Willow and the blush that was creeping up her neck was not helping. And the fact that she and Faith were just kissing each other intensely just a few minutes ago didn`t help in making her blush disappear either.

Willow just stood there looking amused. The minute she entered the room she could see that something was different between the two."Okay, now that Anya's gone back downstairs I think we should go Spikes just arrived soooo...."She said dragging out the so and looking slightly nervous about their reactions. The mention of Spikes name brought a stiff awkwardness in the room and everyone could sense and Willow being the one who brought it up decided to change the subject."Could one of you help me get Xander on the bed. We can't just leave him here."Buffy was lost in thought so Faith went forward and hulled Xanders body up onto Buffys bed.

Suddenly Willow was the only one standing in Buffys room."Buff, are you coming?"She asked frowning at her friends' unusual behaviour."Huh...?"She asked suddenly realising that it was only her and Willow and Willow definitely noticed how her eyes searched out for someone, a certain brunette slayer. Shaking her head slightly Buffy nodded and followed Willow out of the room. When they both entered the living room they saw the others loading up on weapons and Giles talking to Spike in a corner but when Buffy entered her eyes were only looking for one person and she was nowhere to be seen, that is until she caught a glimpse of blonde hair from the left where Rhaya and Faith were sitting on the couch while Faith was holding a cross bow asking her if she knew how to use one. And as usual when she saw the two together she felt that same green eyed monster coming out now more than before because of what happened earlier. She felt like Faith was hers but apparently Faith didn`t feel the same way.

Spikes eyes had been on the blonde slayer since the moment she stepped into the room and Faith knew it. She wanted to take the loaded cross bow in her hand and just aim it at his undead heart and turn him into a pile of dust. Her blood was boiling with rage and she hated how she felt like she was losing control of her emotions. She never wanted to feel weak or show any signs of being vulnerable or open because you`ll always end up being hurt. But with Buffy earlier, kissing her was like heaven and she felt all her walls fall down for the blonde and she wanted to be open and unguarded knowing she was safe. That the other slayer wouldn`t do anything to hurt her. But she wasn`t sure if she could trust Buffy with her heart yet and it scared her shitless when she knew that Buffy already had her heart in the palm of her hands. She could shatter it at any moment and Faith didn`t know if she could handle it.

She knew that Buffys eyes were searching her out from the moment she had entered. And she felt her heart rate speed up and she felt like kicking her own ass for acting like some giddy ass school girl with a crush. She saw Spike sauntering in his own cocky way up to Buffy with a smirk on his face and Faith felt like the cross bow in her hands was about to break. But she clenched her jaw and took a deep breath and looked away appearing to be unaffected by Spikes attempts at talking to Buffy, but both she and Buffy knew that it was all an Spike was in her presences Faith somehow ended up with her fist or foot in his face or ribs. She couldn`t help it, that bleached vampire just rubbed her the wrong way, no pun at them moment none of that happened.

Giles began going over the mission strategy one more time and everybody began moving around loading up on ammunition. Xander who had finally woken up was downstairs loading up on stakes and holy water, while Tara and Willow were looking through a few spell books making sure they had the right spells when needed."Alright,"said Giles now gaining everyone's attention. They all nodded knowing it was time and they all proceeded out the door with Dawn trailing behind them whining about why she couldn`t go with them but just got a closed door in the face from a smirking Buffy and Dawn did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at her sister.

* * *

They were at the location where the ritual would take place. Near the high school where they would be near the seal of the hellmouth and directly under a full moon. Everyone slowly crept towards the back entrance of the basement from the outside and the two slayers could clearly hear chanting going on thanks to their slayer hearing. Buffy was leading the group up from the front then Giles, Xander and Anya following behind her. Then with Faith on the opposite side of the wall leading them with Willow and Tara behind her and with Spike at the end. Buffy signalled Faith with her eyes to move in and with a nod she began to creep along a few crates that were there and ducked behind them with the others. Then Buffy was by her side whispering near Faiths ear making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up."How many do you think there are?"Faith swallowed and whispered back her voice sounding slightly huskier,and she hoped Buffy didn`t hear the change,"Um, I counted `bout fifteen near the drawing of the pentagram on the floor."

Buffy who was also having some problems with being in such close proximity to Faith just nodded her head as her throat became suddenly very dry. The unique fragrance that was Faith, roses, leather and a hint of cigarette smoke and something spicy,made Buffys` head spin."Yeah, I got another fifteen maybe even more around Rhayas pack, "replied Buffy looking down from where they were all hiding. Her eyes scanned the place taking in everything around her. A slayer should always know her surroundings so she could use it to her advantage. She took a deep breath and was about to say that they should all attack because this would be the ideal time to catch them off guard,but then the familiar voice of Yurick Novak boomed around the bottom of their hiding place and Buffys heart sped up thinking they had been spotted. But let out a breath when she saw him addressing all his minions around him.

"Tonight we will finally open the mouth of hell and unleash its darkness upon this world where we will rule over the humans and make them our slaves!"A loud cheer rang out all over the basement."We will no longer need to hide in the darkness of the nights and only be known as fairytales,ledgens or myths. We will rule this earth and plunge it into eternal darkness!!"Loud cheering was heard once again after that and all the vampires had wide and evil smiles on their faces while they all shouted out in victory like they had won something hated it when the bad guys started celebrating early and rolled her eyes thinking that Yurick needed new material, because all the bad guys she fought have made the same speech year after year. `Can`t they at least try to be original? `She thought half sarcastically to herself. Then she saw three robed figures step forward and the werewolves thrown in the circle drawn on the floor she looked to her right and nodded her head and then turned to Faith communicating with her eyes only and saw a nod being given in return.

The only light coming into the surprisingly large basement was the moonlight from the skylight above. The chanting began to increase from mummers to loud echoes and then there was charged and Xander were already up against three to four vampires each but were holding their own. Anya was ducked down between a few crates at the bottom and every time a vampire would approach her, she`d throw holy water in their faces momentarily blinding them and using it to her advantage and staking them. Tara and Willow were working together as a team dusting vampire with telepathy sending stakes flying at the speed of light at the approaching vampires but it seemed like every time they killed one two would come back in its place.

"Don`t let them near the ritual you fools!!"Shouted Yurick in a loud and booming voice as he saw Buffy trying to sneak past a few vampires nearby but she got kicked in her side and was sent flying."You will not stop me!!"He shouted," I will not allow you to destroy everything I`ve work so hard for!!Get them!!Kill them,kill them all!!!"His voice was so loud that the ground shook causing some of the Scooby's to falter in their fighting and getting hit in the process. "Faith!!"Shouted Rhaya as four vampires surrounded her. Faith punched a vampire who was trying to sneak up on her in the face breaking his nose and sending him flying across the room and looked at the She Wolf."You got to destroy the amulet around his neck," She shouted then paused elbowing the vampire on the left," or they`ll just keep on coming even after we dust them!!" And with that she turned back to her fight and staked two vampires before they could even register it.

Faith looked around the room for Buffy and when she spotted her once again trying to get into the middle of the chanting trying to stop it, she got flung away from it like a rag doll by Yurick. Suddenly Spike jumps in to rescue Buffy and takes on the other vampire getting a few good shots in but then getting himself thrown against the concrete as well. She was about to run in and help them but then something caught her eye. More like the gleam of a knife and it was in the hands of a vampire that was seconds away from Tara and Willow who were too preoccupied by the two vampires they were trying to fend off to notice. As the skinny vampire in Faiths opinion dove straight for the blonde witch Faith threw herself in the way to take the impact of the knife to her shoulder. Both of the witches turned around, the two vampires already dust."Oh my Goddess!!Faith are you alright?!"Shouted Tara looking like she was about to cry. Faith gave her a smirk and said, "Five by five Blondie," and pulled the knife out of her arm and slit the throat of the vampire who stabbed her. Luckily the wound wasn`t very deep and she got back up very quickly. She was starting to wonder if getting stabbed was some kind of curse. She gave the witches a reassuring smile and they gave her a thankful one in return for saving their lives. She saw Spike being punched repeatedly in the face by Yurick and Buffy slowly creeping against the wall trying to get near the robed figures but it was like Yurick had some kind of supersonic senses when it came to the chanting figures in the circle with the werewolves. He was at Buffys side in a blink off an eye and had his fingers wrapped around her throat.

Buffys feet were dangling off the ground and she was clawing at his hands but it was like an iron grip and her body felt like it was getting weaker and her oxygen was running out. Black dots were starting to appear and all she saw were cold black eyes staring back at her with pure evil and hate. Slowly she felt as if though the life was draining out of her. And in the distance she heard a familiar voice calling out her name. But she was fighting to keep her eyes open but it was becoming very difficult.

Faith felt like and ice cold hand gripped her heart and was squeezing it with all its might. She pushed her way through the sevens vampire blocking her way, and it was like an out of body experience. She was dusting them so effortlessly but all her eyes were on now were the fading hazel green eyes she fell in love with an incredible amount off strength she never knew she possessed she punched Yurick like he was nothing but an insect and caught Buffy in her arms before she hit the ground.

But Buffys eyes were closed. And Faith felt her eyes stinging with unshed tears fearing that she was too late."B?!"She shouted frantically patting the side off Buffys face trying to get her to wake up,"B!!Buffy?!!" The tears were dangerously close to falling but she quickly composed herself and felt for a pulse and when she felt it she felt her own heart beat again.` Buffy wasn`t dead.` She began to give the blonde CPR and after the third try Buffy began coughing taking huge gulps of air and her eyes connected with Faiths and she couldn`t help the small smile that formed on her face." If you wanted to kiss me, you don`t have to wait for me to be unconscious, you know," she said her voice sounding slightly hoarse and raspy. Faith rolled her eyes at the other slayer thinking that she was rubbing off[no pun intented] on the blonde because that would have been something Faith would say.

She pulled Buffy back up and said," Don`t worry I don`t plan on kissing an unconscious person anytime soon ,"and then she got up and ran towards Yurick who was now kicking Spikes ass,literally and Faith couldn`t help the little smirk that formed upon seeing that. She pulled Yurick off Spike and was surprised that she still had that extra strength from earlier. She thought it was only an adrenaline rush from seeing Buffy in trouble but she wasn`t going to question it at the moment. She picked up a staff that was lying on the floor and turned quickly to look at Buffy and then shouted," B!!You gotta stop the ritual, it`s almost midnight!!" Buffys eyes got wide as she saw a bunch of vampires with daggers approaching the unconscious werewolves in the circle. She looked back at Faith and Yurick fighting and then back at the circle. "Just go!!I`ll handle Mr. Invincible!!" she shouted seeing the indecision in Buffys eyes. Buffy nodded and ran jumping into the fray with Spike hot on her heels slightly limping but still able to fight.

Faith didn`t know why or what was giving her this extra strength but she wasn`t going to waste it and she gave the vampire in front of her an upper cut sending him flying across the room. She didn`t give him the time to gain his bearings before she was on him again and she saw flashes of Buffy being chocked by him in her head and she felt a new rage erupt inside of her and she began to punch him not realising she split her knuckles. But she knew she was inflicting pain on him from all the shouts and groans of pain coming from him. She didn`t even realise that the chanting had stopped and because she could still hear fighting going on. She was too caught up in her own rage and anger to think about what she was doing. The darkness was consuming her but then she felt a hand on her shoulder and she felt like she was surrounded by a blinding golden light and she had to close her eyes from the who was now bleeding profusely used it to his advantage and threw the brunette of off him and sent her barrelling into a bunch of wooden crates.

Faith shook her head momentarily dazed and looked up to find Buffy fighting Yurick who now looked enraged when his eyes landed on the three dead robed figures on the ground and used Buffy as his punching bag and his rage seemed to make the other vampires even more stronger allowing them to get an upper hand on the others. She quickly got up and tackled Yurick to the ground and fumbled for the dagger she knew she had in her boot and when she got a hold of it she gripped it firmly in her hand while straddling the vampire,and with an almost animalistic smile she stabbed him in the centre of his chest and a bright red light shone out momentarily blinding her. Suddenly there was silence all around and she opened her eyes and looked around. All she saw was piles of dust where the others were and a beaten squirming vampire beneath her. She looked down at him and with one more smirk she staked him leaving only a pile of dust beneath her.

"Well that was anticlimactic, "said Xander looking around the room. Everyone including Giles rolled their eyes at that. Then suddenly everything that just happened hit them and they all sort of rushed to the centre of the room checking each other out for any injuries. Buffy was being hugged by Willow and then Xander and then got a fatherly pat on the back from Giles, and then Willow and Tara were looking for injuries on each other, and the same with Anya and Xander. While Giles was with Rhaya and her pack making sure they were all fine and not hurt badly. Faith was just standing off on the sidelines and looking at them and then Spike came and stood next to her." We aint gonna be part of their little group dark one," he said clutching his side," people like us,we don`t belong with people like them." And before Faith could tell him where she thought he belonged a blonde blur threw herself at Faith wrapping her arms around the other slayer tightly. Faith was thrown off guard for a few seconds and felt her heart beating rapidly and her air coming out in puffs. But when she felt Buffy tighten her grip she relaxed and hugged her back lightly because her shoulder hurt like hell.

Buffy felt Faith flinch and pulled back and looked her in the eyes and she felt her breath hitch. She felt the after slaying effects settling in and she had to control herself or she would have jumped Faith there and then. She saw blood coming out slowly from Faiths shoulder and immediately became concerned. "We have to get you back to the house and get that looked at," Said Buffy now dragging her along towards the exit where the others were waiting. "Oui!" Shouted Spike out indigantly, "What `bout me?! Am I chopped liver or something? I am gravely injured here!!" He looked at Buffy with what he thought were puppy dog eyes and Faith just wanted to hurl." Don`t worry you`ll live, okay maybe not. Cause your already dead but it`s nothing major and you`ll heal in no time." And with that she waved a quick goodbye to the bleach blonde vampire saying quick thanks for helping them and then walked out with Faith by her side who was limping,so Buffy let her lean against her while they she knew it was only out of selfish reason,and wanted to just have close contact with the brunnette.

"Bloody slayers..."mumbled Spike angrily and began his journey back to his crypt knowing the sun would rise in a few hours."Doin a favour for `em and not even offerin` ta walk a bloke home...."

As the rest of the gang walked the sidewalks of Sunnydale, with Buffy and Faith at the back of the walked slowly in a comfortable silence. Things between the two slayers were definitely different now. Things have changed and now everything was out in the open but who would take the first step and make the first move? Suddenly Faiths stomach rumbles and both slayers look at each other with smiles and the same after slaying glow,and the buzz of the fight still tingling all over their skin.

Buffy smirked and looked at Faith with a mischievous glint in her eyes and something else that Faith couldn`t quite decipher." Hungry?" She asked still smiling now at Faith. With her dimples now on display and unknowingly making Buffy swoon she replied, "Starved."

**Okay this is almost nearing to an end but tell me what you think so far!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!**


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